“Bay Ridge Bernie Madoff” sentenced

He’s not exactly a hometown hero.

Phillip Barry, known to many as the Bay Ridge Bernie Madoff,received a 20-year jail sentence in federal court last week. Barryran a Ponzi scheme out of his 82nd Street office which cheatedinvestors out of more than $24 million. In addition to his prisonsentence, the phony stockbroker has been ordered to pay back thepeople he swindled.

Over the more than 30 years he perpetrated the scheme, Barry senthis investors fictitious quarterly account statements implying thattheir investment was paying off at their promised rate of return.This payoff rate, which Barry made up arbitrarily, was reported incourt documents to range from 21 percent in 1979 to 12.55 percentin 2008.

In one of the more bizarre aspects of the case, the Security andExchange Commission which is the plaintiff in the case, allegedthat Barry used investor funds to buy materials for a mail orderpornography company he ran called Barry Publications, a charge hevehemently denies.