Bernard Madoff's one-time personal secretary and a second trusted employee were busted Thursday morning for their roles in the convicted chiseler's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
Annette Bongiorno, the secretary-turned-supervisor accused of monitoring the creation of phony documents, was arrested at her home in Boca Raton, Fla., said FBI spokesman Jim Margolin.
Joann Crupi, a 25-year Madoff employee, was taken into custody at her home in Westfield, N.J.
"A house of cards is almost never built by one lone architect," said said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. "Year after year, Annette Bongiorno and Joann Crupi protected and perpetuated the Madoff mirage."
The two long-time Madoff workers turned a huge profit from their illegal efforts, according to a 97-page indictment.
Bongiorno, 62, collected a $14 million return on a $920,000 investment between 1975-2008, the indictment alleged. Crupi allegedly received a $2.7 million payment from a bank account holding investment funds in 2008.
The pair face charges of conspiracy, security fraud, falsifying books and records and tax evasion. If convicted, Bongiorno faces 75 years in prison; Crupi, 49, would face 65 years.
Bongiorno - who worked as Madoff's personal secretary during a 40-year career with the criminal mastermind - handled questions from duped investors about their Madoff accounts, authorities said.
She reported to Frank DiPascali Jr., a Madoff exec who pleaded guilty before turning government witness in the case. In a cruel twist, Bongiorno actually recruited DiPascali to work for Madoff.
Crupi - know around the office as Jodi - handled the company's "investment" funds - tracking what came in and how it was distributed among Madoff's various accounts, the feds alleged.
The arrests bring the total number of suspects busted in the nation's largest investment fraud to eight. Madoff, 72, pleaded guilty last year to the stunning scam and is serving a 150-year jail term.
"We knew early on that a fraud of this scale could not have been the work of one person alone," said Janice Fedarcyk, head of the FBI's New York office. "The investigation continues."
Crupi was expected to appear in Manhattan Federal Court, while Queens native Bongiorno is due in a Florida courtroom.
In June, federal prosecutors sued the pair for the return of millions of dollars in illegal profits.
Bongiorno is on the hook for an estimated $5.5 million, with prosecutors seeking her $1.4 million Manhasset, L.I., home, $1.1 million in bank accounts, an $862,000 Boca Raton, Fla., condo and three cars worth a combined $340,000.
The feds are also seeking a $2.2 million Jersey shore house purchased with cash by Crupi.
Attorneys for both suspects did not return calls for comment.
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