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Trial of five Madoff associates scheduled to start Monday

NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Ponzi schemer Berni Madoff's bookkeeper Joann Crupi allegedly received a $2.7 million bonus after Madoff's firm survived an audit in 2008, prosecutors said.

Crupi used the money to purchase a $2.2 million beach house in Mantoloking, N.J., in the six months between when Madoff was arrested and sentenced to 150 years in federal prison, said prosecutors, who plan to present this information Monday before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.

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Crupi is set to go on trial Monday -- along with four other defendants -- for a variety of charges related to Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme activities, The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger reported Sunday.

Crupi and Madoff's former secretary Annette Bongiorno are charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, tax evasion and falsifying records.

Former operations officer Daniel Bonventre and computer programmers George Perez and Jerome O'Hara are charged with creating false books and records. Bonventre is also charged with conspiracy fraud and tax-related charges.

Also expected to come up in trial, which could last five months, is a list of employees and favored clients who were set to receive the final $350 million in the firm's bank accounts as the scheme came to light, the Star-Ledger reported.

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