Lawsuits Delay Recovery for Madoff Victims

I previously blogged about Irving Picard, the trustee for the Madoff investors, settling with Jeffry Picower’s wife for $7.2 billion. Helen Chaitman, attorney for nearly 500 former Madoff investors, is now appealing the Picower settlement because it blocks other lawsuits against the Picower estate.

A federal appeals court is also hearing an appeal regarding the Madoff estate.  Last March, a federal bankruptcy judge agreed with Picard that claims should be calculated using the difference between what investors put in and took out of Madoff’s firm. Some investors appealed, arguing that claims should instead be based on amounts on their financial account statements, even though they were fictitious.

Picard has many other lawsuits in progress, including a $1 billion lawsuit against the New York Mets.

See Jonathan Stempel, Madoff Trustee: Lawsuits Delay Money for Victims, Yahoo! News, Mar. 9, 2011.

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Attorney at law, Florida Probate Attorney Wills and Estates Law Firm) for bringing this article to my attention.