By Chad Bray
- Bloomberg News
- Craig Kugel, former human resource employee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, exits federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday
The son of a longtime Bernard Madoff employee on Tuesday became the latest person to plead guilty to criminal charges in the government’s probe into a decades-long fraud at the firm.
Craig Kugel, who oversaw employee benefits at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges at a hearing in Manhattan federal court, but denied any knowledge of the fraud itself.
“I want to make clear I had nothing to do with the Madoff Ponzi scheme and I was never involved in the Madoff trading operation,” he said.
Mr. Kugel, the seventh person including Mr. Madoff to plead guilty to criminal charges, has been cooperating with the government since last year, prosecutors said Tuesday.
He admitted Tuesday to filing false forms for individuals who were on the Madoff payroll, but didn’t actually work there. He also admitted to not claiming, as income, personal expenses he charged to a corporate credit card.
Prosecutors have alleged those expenses including more than $ 200,000 in charges, including luxury clothing, jewelry and vacations for Mr. Kugel and his family.
His father, David L. Kugel, a former supervisory trader in Madoff’s proprietary trading operation, pleaded guilty to fraud and other charges last November. David Kugel, who worked for Mr. Madoff’s firm for nearly 40 years, also is cooperating in the probe.