Four charged in connection to Madoff

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged four people connected with New York trader Bernard Madoff with allegedly assisting in his massive fraud scheme.

The SEC charged Cohmad Securities Corp. co-founder Maurice Cohn and his daughter, Cohmad President Marcia Cohn, with contributing to an air of prestige that helped Madoff trap investors in a Ponzi scheme estimated to have lost $65 billion.

A complaint also charges Cohmad executive Robert Jaffe with pulling in more than $1 billion in investments for Madoff, who owned 15 percent of the retail-brokerage business.

The SEC said Cohmad received more than $100 million in fees from Madoff, USA Today reported Tuesday.

In a separate complaint, the SEC charged California investment adviser Stanley Chais with funneling funds to Madoff in spite of clear indications that the firm’s rates of return were fraudulent.

Madoff paid Chais more than $250 million in fees, the newspaper said.

Madoff, who pleaded guilty in March, is in jail awaiting sentencing.