Judge gives Mets good news in Madoff suit, but no home run
Fred Wilpon Credit: Fred Wilpon / Getty Images
The Mets may still be on the hook for $1 billion in a lawsuit by the trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, a Manhattan judge ruled Tuesday. However, he also threw out 9 of 11 counts trustee Irving Picard filed against the owners of the Mets, Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz and others at Sterling Equities, possibly making it harder to prove his case against them.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that Picard can still seek $700 million in principal taken out by the Mets owners, plus $300 million in fictitious profits, but that he’d have to prove they were “willfully blind” to the fraud.
A spokeswoman for Picard said the trustee had no comment pending a "thorough evaluation" of the opinion. Lawyers for the Mets owners were not available for comment.
Mario Cuomo, the former New York governor mediating the dispute, also had no immediate comment.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 25: Wrestling and hockey state championships On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay recap all the state wrestling action from Albany this past weekend, plus Jared Valluzzi has the ice hockey championship results from Binghamton.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 25: Wrestling and hockey state championships On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay recap all the state wrestling action from Albany this past weekend, plus Jared Valluzzi has the ice hockey championship results from Binghamton.
