Five Former Bernie Madoff Aides Start Fraud Trial Tuesday

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Five of Bernie Madoff’s former employees, including his longtime secretary, go on trial Tuesday for allegedly participating in the financier’s historic Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of billions.

All of the defendants in the trial, expected to last up to five months, have pleaded not guilty in the fraud that robbed investors of $20 billion over the course of years.

Still unclear is whether the judge will grant the prosecutors’ request to conceal from the jury the sexual and romantic relations that permeated the office, including a love triangle with Madoff and one of the defendants, the Associated Press reports.

Madoff, 75, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in 2009 and was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

[AP]