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U.S., Madoff agree to delay of indictment: source


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors and Bernard Madoff's defense lawyers have agreed to postpone a deadline for the filing of a criminal indictment against the alleged swindler, a person close to the matter said on Wednesday.

    The agreement, which has yet to be formally filed in federal court in Manhattan, calls for a 30-day extension of Wednesday's deadline to bring an indictment, this person said.

    Madoff was charged in a criminal complaint in December with fraud, after federal authorities said he confessed to running a long-standing swindle that cost investors $50 billion.

    A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, which is prosecuting the case, was not immediately available for comment.

    (Reporting by Martha Graybow)