Lock Madoff up — now

The following editorial appeared recently in the Miami Herald:

Prosecutors in the Bernard Madoff case were initially willing to allow the alleged Ponzi scheme mastermind to post $10 million bail and await trial ensconced in his Manhattan apartment. Madoff was cooperating with prosecutors, they said, beginning with his alleged confession to the FBI last month to being the author of a financial con game that bilked investors of as much as $50 billion.

Given these facts, a federal magistrate sent Madoff home. So it was that newspapers around the country ran a photo of a bemused-looking (or was that really a smirk?) Madoff walking the streets of Manhattan just days after his alleged Ponzi scheme had rocked the financial world and destroyed the dreams of thousands of investors. It was difficult to reconcile the image of the free man with the human destruction he is accused of having wrought.

Madoff looked just as bemused leaving U.S. District Court in Manhattan last week even though prosecutors now want the magistrate, Judge Ronald L. Ellis, to revoke his bail.

It appears that Madoff is not being so cooperative after all. What's more, last month he violated the terms of his release by mailing an estimated $1 million worth of watches, jewelry and other items to family and friends. The conditions of his release bar him from disposing of any assets.

Madoff's lawyer says that some of the items were heirlooms and others were low-value trinkets. Once his client learned that he had violated his agreement with prosecutors, says the attorney, Madoff tried to get the items back. The prosecutors aren't buying that story and have decided that Madoff is not so reliable after all. They now say he's a flight risk. We agree.

Given the scope of the alleged fraud scheme, Madoff's extensive overseas assets and the fact that none of that $50 billion is to be found at this point, Madoff doesn't seem to have much to hang around for. Ellis should revoke Madoff's bail.