Madoff inquiry likely to grow

Federal investigators haven’t budged either: They don’t believe him.

The day after Madoff was given a 150-year term, a person close to the investigation said yesterday the sentencing marked “the end of the beginning’’ of a far-reaching investigation expected to answer lingering questions about how the disgraced financier pulled off perhaps the largest financial fraud history - and who helped him.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, told the Associated Press on Monday that prosecutors expect to charge at least 10 more people in connection with the scheme. The person said yesterday that no arrests were imminent.

The US attorney’s office refused to comment on the status of the investigation or potential suspects.

Defense attorney Ira Sorkin said yesterday that Madoff was “resigned to his fate.’’

Madoff, 71, pleaded guilty in March to charges that his secretive investment advisory business was a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Madoff admitted his own crimes, but has claimed members of his inner circle - including a brother and two sons who ran a brokerage operation under the same roof as his firm - were innocent bystanders. Lawyers for the family have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Ruth Madoff broke her silence Monday to suggest she was among the victims of her husband’s deceit.

But in the six months since the former Nasdaq chairman’s arrest, the family has not escaped intense scrutiny by federal authorities and a court-appointed trustee overseeing liquidation of Madoff’s assets. A judge’s forfeiture order has stripped Ruth Madoff of $80 million in assets, including a penthouse apartment where she still lives.

There also have been questions about the role of Frank DiPascali, chief financial officer of Madoff’s money management business, and that of several large money managers who funneled billions of dollars of investments to the firm.