Mets Owners Settle For $162 Million

As I previously blogged, the trial to determine what amount the owners of the New York Mets owed to the fund created for victim’s of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme began on Monday. The owners and trustee Irving Picard ended up settling on Monday for $162 million, though owners will not pay anything for three years.

As a result of the damage created by the case, the Mets were forced to cut payroll and sell portions of the team to raise tens of millions dollars. Outside the courtroom Monday, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, principal Mets owners, expressed their relief that the case had come to a close.

Trustee Irving Picard’s attorney, David J. Sheehan, stated that the owners could recover the $162 million through Picard’s attempts to recover $178 million in claims the owners have made against Madoff’s estate. Judge Rakoff stated, “Although this is something of an anticlimax, it is always helpful and positive when the parties are mutually able to resolve their dispute.”

See New York Mets Owners Settle For $162M in Madoff-Related Case, Associated Press, Mar. 19, 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.