Sins of the Father: Trustee to Sue Madoff's Sons, Family
By HASANI GITTENS
Updated 7:30 PM EDT, Fri, Sep 25, 2009
The New York trustee overseeing the liquidation of jailed financier Bernard Madoff's assets says he plans to sue Madoff's two sons, his brother and a niece to recover money for victims.
In a "60 Minutes" interview airing Sunday on CBS, the trustee, Irving Picard, says he plans to pursue the Madoff family in the courts to recover millions of dollars they made during Madoff's giant fraud.
Madoff's sons Mark and Andrew, his brother Peter and niece Shana will be sued for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, according to the report.
The action, in civil court, will have no bearing on any criminal prosecution of the Madoff family, which has so far seemed unlikely. In an agreement with prosecutors, Madoffs wife was able to give over all of her riches save $2.5 million allegedly not tied to the fraud.
"Whether or not they have a criminal problem, we will pursue them as far as we can pursue them and if that leads to bankrupting them, then that's what will happen," Picard told "60 Minutes."
Mark, Andrew and Peter took in over $80 million in compensation between 2001 and 2008 and withdrew over $51 million from the investment accounts they had with Bernie. 60 Minutes reports that they are also seeking an extra $90 million in deferred compensation from the now-bankrupt company.
"If you were those sons, and you knew what you knew today about where all that money came from wouldn't you be embarrassed to keep that money?" asked Picard's chief counsel, David Sheehan, on the program. "They should give it all back and if they don't give it all back, I think we have an obligation to go get it."
The 71-year-old Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence after he revealed a multi-decade fraud last December that cost thousands of investors millions of dollars.
Picard told the CBS news magazine that well over $150 million was either loaned, paid or transferred to the four family members.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Miami
First Published: Sep 25, 2009 5:58 PM EDT on NBC New York
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