Madoff declines to challenge SEC fraud order

Alleged Wall Street investment scam artist Bernard Madoff will not challenge a government order freezing his assets and establishing the facts of a fraud case in the courts, regulators said Monday. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Madoff, the alleged mastermind of a 50-billion-dollar fraud, agreed to a consent order filed in federal court by the financial market regulator.
Madoff agreed to a proposed partial judgement "without admitting or denying the allegations of the SEC''s complaint," filed on December 11, the SEC said. Upon acceptance by the court, the order would extend a freeze on Madoff''s assets. But it would leave the questions of repayments and penalties "to be decided at a later time." But the SEC said that by accepting the consent order, Madoff agrees that "the facts of the complaint are established and cannot be contested by Madoff."