c


      


  
10:26am EST

(Reuters) - The trustee seeking to recoup money from Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme is suing
hundreds of individuals, banks and funds around the world that he asserts benefited improperly
from the epic fraud.

Cases filed by court-appointed trustee Irving Picard seek a total of more than $30 billion. The
trustee faces a deadline of December 15 to bring lawsuits before the two-year statute of
limitations runs out. Some of the complaints in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York have been
filed under seal.

About $2.6 billion has been recovered, mostly through settlements with funds and individuals.
The money will go to victims of the fraud, which was revealed with Madoff's arrest on
December 11, 2008.

Bernard Madoff's son Mark was found hanged in his New York City apartment on Saturday,
police said. Bernard Madoff is now serving a 150-year prison sentence but Mark Madoff had not
been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

The following are some of the notable cases:

* Picard seeks $9 billion from HSBC in recovery and damages and its related feeder funds in
Europe, South America and the Caribbean.

* Sued Madoff friend and associate Jeffry Picower for $7.2 billion. Picower, said to be the main
beneficiary of the fraud, later died of a heart attack in his Florida swimming pool at the age of
67. The case has yet to be resolved.

* Madoff's primary banker for 20 years, JPMorgan Chase, was sued for $6.5 billion over
accusations it "enabled" the fraud

* Fairfield Greenwich Group hedge fund firm and individuals liable for more than $3.6 billion,
trustee says

* Picard sues Swiss bank UBS AG and some of its associates, saying they collaborated in the
scheme and are liable for $2.5 billion.

* Harley International Ltd, a Cayman Islands-based fund, was ordered by a U.S. judge to pay
$1.07 billion after it failed to defend itself against the trustee's lawsuit
* Hollywood money manager Stanley Chais, sued by Picard for $1.1 billion, died at the age of 84
in September before the case was resolved.

* In separate lawsuits, Picard sued Madoff's wife, Ruth Madoff, his brother Peter, sons Andrew
and Mark and niece Shana for a total of $244 million.

* Dozens of relatives of Madoff family members and former employees of the firm are also
being sued by Picard's team of lawyers at Baker & Hostetler law firm.

* Carl Shapiro - The 97-year-old clothing entrepreneur and friend of Madoff, who invested
hundreds of millions of dollars with Madoff since 1961 and withdrew even more, agreed to
forfeit $625 million

* Legacy Capital, BNP Paribas and Khronos Capital Research sued by Picard. British Virgin
Islands-based investment firm Legacy, whose accounts were taken over by French bank BNP in
2004, received at least $255.8 million from Madoff's firm, according to Picard.

* Trustee seeks $205 million from feeder fund Cohmad Securities Corp run by Madoff friend
Maurice Cohn. The name is a contraction of "Cohn" and "Madoff."

* Demands unspecified recovery and damages from Tremont Group Holdings, a multibillion-
dollar money-management company, owned by Oppenheimer Acquisition Corp.

* Fred Wilpon -- The owner of the New York Mets Major League Baseball team, of which
Madoff was a lifelong fan, was sued along with his firm Sterling Equities and other defendants.

* Picard sues Blue Star Investors LLC, an affiliate of private equity executive Thomas H. Lee.
Says defendants received $51.75 million from Madoff's firm, of which $19.67 million
represented "fictitious profits.

(Reporting by Grant McCool in New York, Laurence Fletcher in London and Martin de Sa'Pinto
in Zurich)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BA1L620101211

ð      

 
 

 
?
? Tweet This
? Share on LinkedIn
? Share on Facebook
? 0diggsdigg
c


? Madoff trustee's major lawsuits over epic fraud

10:26am EST

O


Unicredit S.p.A.

CRDI.MI

¼1.70

-0.03-1.56%

12:00am EST

 
 


  

Fri, Dec 10 2010

1/2
The logo of Austrian Bank Austria-Unicredit is seen on one of its offices in Vienna July 23,
2010.

Credit: Reuters/Leonhard Foeger

VIENNA | Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:26am EST

VIENNA (Reuters) - UniCredit unit Bank Austria plans to contest "vigorously" a U.S. lawsuit
linking it to Bernard Madoff's multibillion dollar financial fraud, the Austrian bank said on
Saturday.
"It is our policy not to comment on pending legal matters. Our attorneys are reviewing the matter
and we will manage this through the normal course legal process. We intend to defend ourselves
vigorously," spokesman Martin Halama said.

A court-appointed trustee trying to recover money for Madoff's victims named UniCredit, Bank
Austria and Austrian banker Sonja Kohn among dozens of defendants in the latest lawsuit over
the biggest fraud in financial history.

The complaint in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York said the litigation seeks to recover $19.6
billion in damages.

Lawyers representing Kohn and her bank -- Bank Medici, now known as 2020 Medici -- were
not available to comment.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B94T720101211?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r2:c0.075
472:b40175520:z0

 

 
 
     


  
?
? Tweet This
? Share on LinkedIn
? Share on Facebook
? 0diggsdigg

c


? Factbox: Madoff trustee's major lawsuits over epic fraud

Thu, Dec 9 2010

 



? Bank Austria vows vigorous defense in Madoff suit

10:26am EST

? Madoff trustee files claims against accountants

Fri, Dec 10 2010

 ? UPDATE 3-Austrian banker Kohn key to Madoff crimes-trustee

Fri, Dec 10 2010

? Madoff Trustee goes after banks

Fri, Dec 10 2010

±   

? Madoff trustee has nothing to lose gunning for JPM

? The Used Underwear of the Apocalypse?

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:51pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The court-appointed trustee seeking to recoup money for victims of
Bernard Madoff on Friday said he filed complaints against accountants Frank Avellino and
Michael Bienes and their respective families in hopes of recovering more than $900 million.

Irving Picard, the trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC
(BLMIS), filed complaints against the accountants describing them as among the "earliest
enablers" of Madoff by operating BLMIS's first feeder fund -- a partnership known as Avellino
& Bienes.

Picard said in the statement the fund "not only fueled the initial growth of the Ponzi scheme, but
also helped sustain it for years."

Madoff, 72, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after admitting to orchestrating a worldwide
fraud of about $65 billion.

So far, Picard and his team of lawyers have recovered about $2.6 billion.. They have also filed
complaints seeking billions of dollars from several major U.S. and European banks whom Picard
claims also helped enable the fraud.

The recovered money will be distributed to victims of the decades-long multibillion dollar fraud
that shook confidence in securities regulators when it was revealed two years ago on December
11, 2008 and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC collapsed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BA0JJ20101211?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r3:c0.056
604:b40175520:z0

 

  
  
?
 ? Tweet This
? Share on LinkedIn
? Share on Facebook
? 0diggsdigg

c


? Factbox: Madoff trustee's major lawsuits over epic fraud

Thu, Dec 9 2010

 



? UPDATE 3-Austrian banker Kohn key to Madoff crimes-trustee

Fri, Dec 10 2010

? Analysis: Madoff trustee takes on banks as deadline looms

Fri, Dec 10 2010

? European banks reject claim by Madoff trustee

Thu, Dec 9 2010

? RPT-European banks reject claim by Madoff trustee

Thu, Dec 9 2010

±   

? Madoff trustee has nothing to lose gunning for JPM

O


Nomura Horudingusu Kabushiki Kaisha

8604.T

¥505

-4.00-0.79%
12:00am EST

BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION

BAC.N

$12.80

+0.15+1.19%

12:00am EST

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.

BBVA.MC

¼8.05

-0.11-1.32%

12:00am EST

By Ilaina Jonas and Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:21pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The court-appointed trustee seeking to recoup money for victims of
Bernard Madoff on Wednesday said he filed complaints against seven global financial
institutions in hopes of recovering more than $1 billion.

Irving Picard, the trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC
(BLMIS), filed complaints against Citigroup's Citibank, Natixis SA, Fortis, ABN AMRO Bank
N.V., Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Nomura and Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of
America Corp.

None of the banks were available for immediate comment.

The complaints were filed under seal in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of
New York.

The financial institutions received transfers of money from BLMIS through numerous Madoff
feeder funds when they either knew or should have known of Madoff's fraud, according to a
statement by the trustee.
"The complaints allege that the banks enabled the Madoff Ponzi scheme by opening a spigot of
new money into the Madoff feeder fund network, by creating and offering derivative investment
products linked to various Madoff feeder funds, including the Fairfield Greenwich, Kingate and
Tremont families of funds," the trustee said in a statement.

Separately, Picard also filed a $100 million claim against Sandra Manzke and her family and the
Maxam Fund Group in connection with the scheme for what the suit described as Manzke's role
in continuing to enable and profit from the Ponzi scheme.

Picard is also trying to recover money for investors with a claim against Swiss bank UBS for
$2.5 billion filed in Zurich [nSGE6B7032].

Madoff, 72, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after admitting to orchestrating a worldwide
fraud of about $65 billion.

So far, Picard and his team of lawyers have recovered about $2.6 billion.

The money will be distributed to victims of the decades-long multibillion dollar fraud that shook
confidence in securities regulators when it was revealed two years ago on December 11, 2008
and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC collapsed.

The trustee is seeking $425 million of the more than $1 billion from Citi. About $300 million of
that is connected to a credit facility Citibank availed to a Madoff feeder fund, Rye Select Broad
Market Prime Fund L.P. The remaining $125 million is related to a swap transaction linked to
another Madoff feeder fund, Fairfield Sentry Limited.

"Armed with considerable non-public information about Madoff, Citi either knew or should have
known that Madoff's investment advisory business was a fake, and that the funds Citi received
from these two Madoff feeder funds came from Madoff's fraudulent activities," Picard said in a
statement.

In the action against Natixis, the trustee is seeking to recover at least $400 million the bank
received in connection with structured products.

The trustee is also seeking to recover $230 million from Fortis Prime Fund Solutions Bank Ltd in
connection with swap transactions, $270 million from ABN AMRO and $45 million from Bilbao
Vizcaya Argentaria in connection with structured notes issued by BBVA using Madoff feeder
funds.

(Additional reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Bernard Orr and Muralikumar
Anantharaman)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B960620101210?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r4:c0.037
736:b40175520:z0