Madoff’s Brother Struck From New York Bar

(CN) - The imprisoned younger brother of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff has been disbarred as an attorney by a New York appeals court for his role in the fraud.

Peter Barnett Madoff was removed from the state's list of attorneys after he pleaded guilty in July 2012 to federal conspiracy and securities fraud charges.

The felony convictions, which also included falsifying the books and records of an investment adviser, made Madoff's disbarment automatic, and the Second Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division made the ruling official on Dec. 18.

According to the Brooklyn-based panel's unsigned opinion, Madoff "admitted that he conspired with others to prevent the IRS from collecting proper tax revenue - to his and his family's benefit - in three different ways."

First, he failed to report benefits as income on his tax returns while working for his brother's firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

Second, the lawyer "falsely placed his wife on the BLMIS payroll, resulting in her receipt of untaxed 401(k) contributions to which she was not entitled," the appellate justices wrote.

Finally, Peter Madoff admitted that he accepted gifts of "substantial sums of money" from his brother, Bernard. Peter passed these gifts along to his children who signed promissory notes to avoid paying gift taxes, according to the ruling.

Peter Madoff had been admitted to the New York Bar in 1971. The 68-year-old was sentenced last year to a decade in prison with one year of supervised release.

His 75-year-od brother Bernard is serving a 150-year prison term for operating the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

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