U.S. moves Madoff deputy DiPascali to different jail

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Frank DiPascali, swindler Bernard Madoff's right-hand man who admitted helping his boss run a decades-long multibillion dollar fraud, was moved from a New York jail to another north of the city five days ago, officials said on Tuesday.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons website lists DiPascali, 53, as having been "released" on November 12 without providing an explanation. He was moved to the Westchester County jail in Valhalla, New York, a spokeswoman for the county said.

"We do get federal prisoners on occasion and there could be a number of reasons... it is not unusual," said the Westchester County spokeswoman, Victoria Hochman.

She said she did not know why DiPascali, who is cooperating with investigators of the massive Madoff fraud, was moved to the county jail from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said DiPascali was in federal custody. A spokeswoman for the office of the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan declined to comment.

DiPascali has been in jail awaiting a prison sentence since he pleaded guilty in August to 10 criminal charges for his role in the $65 billion Madoff fraud that bilked thousands of investors worldwide. DiPascali had worked for Madoff's firm since 1975, rising to become chief financial officer.

He is cooperating with government investigators and faces the possibility of being sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Sentencing is expected next year. Madoff is serving a 150-year prison term in North Carolina.

DiPascali's lawyer did not return calls for comment.

Last week, two former computer programmers for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, were arrested and charged with designing computer codes to falsify investor records and taking hush money from Madoff and DiPascali to keep the fraud going.

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan had denied bail to DiPascali, saying there was too great a risk that he could flee before his sentencing.

On Tuesday, the judge entered an order in the public court record that said DiPascali's "bail status has remained unchanged since the Court's August 11, 2009 decision denying bail pending sentencing."

Madoff was arrested last December 11 when the Ponzi scheme, in which early investors were paid with the money of new clients, collapsed in the declining economy.

The case is U.S. v DiPascali, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 09-00764.

(Reporting by Grant McCool and Jonathan Stempel, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Tim Dobbyn)