MYFOXNY.COM - Fox 5 has looked into Bernard Madoff’s closest associates at his investment firm. Now, a Fox 5 investigation has zeroed in on a woman at the firm who was a key player in Madoff’s inner circle.
So far, Madoff and his accountant are the only two people charged in connection with Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. But federal prosecutors continue to investigate the fraud. One of Madoff’s closest associates is Annette Bongiorno — to his thousands of clients, she was his personal secretary who until now avoided the public’s eye.
Bongiorno was his right-hand woman, his long-time personal aide. Fox 5 tracked her down in Boca Raton, Florida.
“The evidence that’s lined up so far shows Annette Bongiorno was a key participant in the whole operation of Bernie Madoff,” says Robert Heim, a former prosecutor.
Bongiorno is a name very familiar to Bernie Madoff. That’s because she was a his personal secretary for more than four decades. She has a million dollar home in Boca Raton, Florida.
Bongiorno’s office was on the 17th floor of the Lipstick Building, within steps of Bernie’s office.
Sources close to the investigation say two of Bongiorno’s assistants are describing how they were instructed to research daily share prices for blue-chip stocks from the previous month, then generate bogus trading tickets.
Those tickets ensured customer statements looked legitimate with current and accurate stock numbers.
“The key for prosecutors is showing she knew that she was involved in a criminal fraud,” says Heim.
When Fox 5 caught up with Bongiorno on the grounds of her exclusive gated country club community, she refused to answer any questions.
“The only thing about Annette is she was a very nice person, she was a sweetheart. And that’s about it,” says Ann Casalotti, a relative of Bongiono’s. Casalotti still lives in the childhood home in Howard Beach they shared. The house next door in this blue collar neighborhood is the childhood home of Frank Dipascali — Madoff’s chief financial officer. Bongiorno helped him get that job, personally recruiting him into Madoff’s firm.
“I wish everything would get back to normal,” Casalotti says.
Annette Agrese, Bongiorno’s maiden name, had humble beginnings. At John Adams High, a young Annette was a member of the business club.
Fast forward 40 years, she’s a secretary married to Rudy Bongiorno — a former New York City worker on permanent disability. But clearly the couple is living well.
She has a $2.6 million mansion in Manhasset on Long Island and the $1.25 million home in Boca, or as Annette calls it: Casa di Bongiorno.
She has some fancy cars, too, in her three-car garage: Two 2007 Mercedes-Benzes and a 2005 Bentley.
“Annette Bongiorno has millions of dollars of assets that the prosecutors have viewed as a red flag,” Heim says. “Her luxury homes, her luxury cars are certainly going to be an item for close scrutiny by the prosecutors because she was a secretary and she’s going to have to answer why she was making so much money from the Madoff firm and how she could not have known it was a criminal fraud.”
For now Bongiorno continues to enjoy a millionaire lifestyle, secluded behind the walls and gates of her upscale Florida neighborhood.
Annette Bongiorno has not been charged with any crime. Fox 5 News has no direct evidence she committed any crime or that she knew about the Ponzi scheme. What we do know is that she was a loyal Madoff aide for many years.
by CHARLES LEAF, Fox 5 News
