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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.
Financial Times – The trustee charged with tracking down money for victims of Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn Ponzi scheme will target big investors – such as hedge funds – that pulled "substantial amounts" of "false profits" out of the broker’s operation.
Under federal and New York law, investors who withdrew either principal or profits in the 90 days before Mr Madoff’s December 11 arrest are particularly vulnerable to so-called "clawbacks", but the trustee will be able to reach back up to six years in some cases.
With billions in claims and only about $940m in recovered assets, Irving Picard, the trustee, must rely on money from investors who cashed out early as a source of restitution.
He and David Sheehan, a lawyer working with him, told a creditor meeting last week that they intended to focus on large investors, particularly if they had suspicions about Mr Madoff’s operation.
Mr Sheehan cited the example of "someone who may have been well informed and may have had red flags".
CNNMoney.com – ACF Industries and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) are suing hedge fund Steel Partners, accusing the fund of fraud by failing to tell investors of plans to go public, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Reuters says ACF, which court documents say is affiliated with Carl Icahn, invested $15 million with Steel Partners Offshore Fund Ltd, which became Steel Partners II (Offshore) Ltd. In the suit, Bank of America, acting as trustee for ACF’s employee pension fund, accuses Steel Partners of failing to give proper notice of plans to become a publicly traded partnership.
Dailyrecord.com – A judge presiding over civil claims filed against disgraced financier Bernard Madoff says he may be willing to consider extending relief from an investors’ fund to those who invested in Madoff’s business through third parties.
OAS_AD(‘ArticleFlex_1′);U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton told Daniel R. Goldenson and his wife in a letter dated Dec. 24 and made public Monday that their request to be eligible for relief from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation comes "early in the large and complex procedures which are underway with respect to Madoff’s affairs."
He said that before considering the issues involved in changing the terms of SIPC’s coverage, he would need a formal application and briefing from SIPC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, a trustee for Madoff’s business and representatives of investors.
The SIPC, which was created by Congress and funded by the securities industry, can give customers up to $500,000 each if it is determined their money was stolen. A telephone message seeking comment from the SIPC was not immediately returned Monday.
