Picard, Wilpon-Katz Settle Madoff Suit for $162 Million

In the end, it was the prospect of selecting a jury and beginning to try their case that led both Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff’s company, and Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, the owners of the New York Mets baseball team and extensive real estate holdings in the New York metropolitan area, to settle their case. 

The essential terms of the agreement are that Wilpon and Katz have agreed to pay a sum to Picard equal to 100 percent of the fictitious profits of approximately $162 million that they withdrew during the six year period prior to the Madoff’s bankruptcy filing. The district court had previously ruled that Wilpon/Katz were liable for fictitious profits spanning only the two year period prior to the liquidation proceeding.
 
As part of the settlement, Picard will dismiss the amended complaint that alleged that Wilpon/Katz were willfully blind to the fraud conducted by Madoff.
 
The Wilpon/Katz customer claims – which total approximately $178 million – will be allowed in full and will be entitled to recovery on the same basis as other Madoff customers.
 
Attorneys representing Picard include David J. Sheehan, the Baker & Hostetler Counsel to Picard, and Fernando Bohorquez, Regina Griffin, Tracy Cole, Karin Scholz Jenson, Lauren Resnick, Mark Kornfeld, Timothy Susanin, Kathryn Zunno, Jody Schechter, Stacey Bell, Melissa Kosack, Amanda Fein and Brian Song.
 
The lead attorneys for Wilpon/Katz include Davis Polk partners Karen E. Wagner and Robert F. Wise, Jr.