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Madoff Ponzi scheme started in 1970s

A former trader at Bernard Madoff Investment and long-time colleague is expected to plead guilty to fraud Monday and testify that Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme may have started 20 years earlier than what his ex-boss claimed, the Guardian reported.

David Kugel, who began working for Madoff in 1970, is cooperating with investigators and is expected to plead guilty in the hopes of lighter sentence, federal prosecutors said in a letter Wednesday. He is charged with conspiring to commit fraud, falsifying records and faking trades.