Madoff Trustee Vows Suit Against Sons

The trustee tasked with tracking down Bernard Madoff’s ill-gotten gains plans to sue Madoff’s two sons, his niece, and brother this week.

Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee, and his deputy, David J. Sheehan of the Baker Hostetler law firm, told 60 Minutes Sunday they planned to sue Madoff’s sons, Mark and Andrew, his brother Peter, and niece Shana—who were all executives at Madoff’s firm—seeking the return of $198 million.

“Whether or not they have a criminal problem, we will pursue them as far as we can pursue them,” Picard said. “And if that leads to bankrupting them, then that’s what will happen.”

Mark and Andrew Madoff have maintained they were innocent in the $65 billion Ponzi scheme their father operated, and are seeking $90 million they say the firm owes them, the New York Times reports. Bernard Madoff is now serving a 150-year sentence for bilking investors of some $65 billion, the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Madoff’s scheme collapsed with the economy, when he found himself unable to pay off old investors with money from new investors.

That’s a typical story for Ponzi operators, though the scale of Madoff’s scheme far outstrips others.

The SEC and FBI have reported an increase in Ponzi prosecutions this year, as the economy has left other Ponzi operators in the same position in which Madoff found himself.

The trustee in the Madoff case and his lawyers have filed 13 suits seeking to recover about $15 billion. But Picard told 60 Minutes that many investors in Madoff’s scheme will see, at most, pennies on the dollar of their investments.