Wall Street Journal – A lawyer for the court-appointed trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff’s firm confirmed they have located an additional $75 million in Madoff assets — a figure that would put the total above $1 billion.

A lawyer for the court-appointed trustee also said Monday that French authorities are moving to seize Mr. Madoff’s residence in France, to satisfy claims by victims in that country. The residence in Cap d’Antibes, France, was valued at about $1 million, according to a statement of Madoff’s assets as of Dec. 31, 2008.

Last week, U.S. prosecutors indicated they plan to seek the forfeiture of the residence in Mr. Madoff’s criminal case, in which he pleaded guilty earlier this month to perpetrating a massive Ponzi scheme. It wasn’t clear if French efforts would conflict with U.S. recovery efforts. A spokeswoman for U.S. prosecutors did not immediately comment.

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Boston Globe – A judge extended an order on Tuesday barring hedge fund founder Ezra Merkin from shutting down funds that had invested with accused swindler Bernard Madoff or withdrawing money from them.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Richard Lowe issued the extension in a lawsuit brought on December 23 by New York University, which says it lost $24 million when funds run by Merkin invested money with Madoff without its consent.

Another judge issued the initial order on December 24 to stop Merkin from liquidating Ariel Fund Ltd, named in the lawsuit by the university along with Merkin and his Gabriel Capital Corp.

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