Investors scammed by Madoff can't recover money from fake profits

The owners of the Mets and other investors swindled by Wall Street scam artist Bernard Madoff have no right to recover money made from fake profits, a federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled Tuesday.

It’s a significant setback in their battle with trustee Irving Picard, who’s argued that certain clients, such as the Wilpon family, can’t collect bogus bucks they thought they had made in Madoff’s $65 billion con.

“We hope that the [Second Circuit] court’s decision can be the final word on this issue,” trustee spokeswoman Amanda Remus said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Wilpons did not immediately comment.

Picard, who was appointed to track down the money and assets lost to Madoff, has sued the Wilpons to recover $300 million in false profits and is also attempting to recover about $700 million in principal that the Wilpons originally invested. Picard argues that they should have known he was running a scam.

Madoff, meanwhile, is serving a 150-year federal prison sentence in North Carolina.

(with Newsday)