SEC charges New York firm, California adviser with fraud in Madoff scheme

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SEC charges Madoff-linked firm, adviser with fraud

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators on Monday charged a New York brokerage firm and a California investment adviser with securities fraud, accusing them of funneling billions of dollars from investors into Bernard Madoff's pyramid scheme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced civil fraud charges against Cohmad Securities; its chairman, Maurice Cohn; chief operating officer Marcia Cohn, and broker Robert Jaffe.

Named in a second SEC lawsuit was Los Angeles-based investment adviser Stanley Chais, who allegedly oversaw three funds that invested all of their assets -- nearly $1 billion -- with Madoff.

Madoff secretly controlled New York-based Cohmad and used it to procure a steady stream of funds for his multibillion-dollar fraud, the SEC said.

While channeling billions in investor funds to Madoff, the associates together collected several hundred million dollars in fees from the now-disgraced money manager, the SEC alleged.

The agency's lawsuits were filed in federal court in Manhattan.

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SEC charges Madoff-linked firm, adviser with fraud - Yahoo! Finance