Mets’ Owners Could Owe Over $83M to Madoff Investors

Irving Picard, the trustee who is recovering money for Bernard Madoff investors, claims that the owners of the New York Mets owe $300 million to $1 billion to a fund established to repay the thousands of investors cheated during Madoff’s long-term fraud. Last year, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that the Mets’ team owners would not owe more than $386 million to the fund, but stated that they would likely owe up to $83 million. Judge Rakoff stated that Picard would have to prove that the Mets’ owners “willfully blinded” themselves to the fraud in order to get more money for the fund.

Yesterday, Judge Rakoff narrowed the subject of the upcoming March 19 trial and determined that he, not a jury, will decide the exact amount owed by the Mets’ owners. Judge Rakoff also expressed doubt of Picard’s ability to prove that the Mets’ owners should pay more than $83 million.    

See Mets Owe Up To $83M to Madoff Investors, Associated Press, Mar. 5, 2012. 

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