JPMorgan Chase’s latest criminal settlement shows that prosecutors are becoming more creative about getting money to victims of a fraud rather than just putting it into federal coffers. As part of a deferred-prosecution agreement, JPMorgan will pay $1.7 billion to the Justice Department for not maintaining proper anti-money laundering controls and failing to file a “suspicious activity report” on Bernard L. Madoff’s account. The bank is settling over violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, and prosecutors say the bank failed to see numerous red flags about Mr. Madoff’s extensive Ponzi scheme operated through accounts at the bank. More in the New York Times [...]

The government’s settlement of criminal and civil charges against J.P. Morgan ChaseJPM +0.81% & Co. for failing to alert authorities to suspicions about Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme resolves some key issues but, as is the case with many aspects of this extraordinary fraud, it also left several mysteries. In its statement of facts in the case agreed to by J.P. Morgan, the government described what it characterized as a big check-kiting operation involving Mr. Madoff’s securities firm and one of his largest clients, identified only as “Private Bank Client.” More in the Wall Street Journal [...]

Let’s get a few points straight regarding the federal government’s “big” $2-billion-plus settlement with JPMorgan Chase over the bank’s complicity in the Madoff case. Madoff kept his major bank accounts and which profited handsomely off its relationship in numerous ways, knew Madoff was crooked. Bank executives had him figured out as early as 1998 — possibly earlier — or 10 years before his arrest and public exposure as the mastermind of a record-breaking Ponzi scheme. More in the Los Angeles Times [...]

Long after most people have stopped paying attention to Bernie Madoff’s $17 billion investment fraud, look who’s lining up with the victims to snag a piece of the financial recovery. Why, it’s none other than the U.S. government, the same outfit that helped Madoff get away with cheating his clients by ignoring warnings about him for years. Federal law enforcers are returning to their favorite piggy bank, J.P. Morgan, to extract an expected settlement of more than $2 billion. Madoff was a customer of the bank, and the feds allege that Morgan failed to issue warnings about their con-man client. But only some of the settlement money is earmarked for victims; the rest will go straight to Washington. More in the Wall Street Journal [...]

Before Bernard L. Madoff was charged with stealing billions of dollars from his clients, and before he received a 150-year prison sentence for those crimes, JPMorgan Chase missed its chance to warn federal authorities about his Ponzi scheme. On Tuesday, five years after Mr. Madoff’s arrest set off a panic on Wall Street and in Washington, Mr. Madoff’s primary bank received a punishment of its own. More in the New York Times [...]

Working through a long list of legal problems, JPMorgan Chase is starting the new year with another steep payout to the government. The bank plans to reach as soon as this week roughly $2 billion in criminal and civil settlements with federal authorities who suspect that it ignored signs of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, according to people briefed on the case. More in the New York Times [...]

The Justice Department likes to brag about being tough on the banking industry. But just how tough? Not as tough as the Treasury Department would like, apparently, at least when it comes to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bernie Madoff. The government has been looking into whether J.P. Morgan, which had a two-decade relationship with Madoff, ignored warning signs that the operation he was running was actually a giant Ponzi scheme. Banks are supposed to report suspicious activity by clients. More on MarketWatch [...]