In a setback for the trustee seeking money for former customers of fraudster Bernard Madoff, a U.S. appeals court refused to void two settlements benefiting investors who sued "feeder funds" that sent their money to Madoff, Reuters reported on Saturday. Friday's unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit left intact a $410 million settlement with J. Ezra Merkin, a Wall Street hedge fund manager who oversaw the Ariel Fund Ltd and Gabriel Capital LP, and an $80 million settlement with Fairfield Greenwich Ltd. The Merkin settlement had been negotiated by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and also resolved claims by Bart Schwartz, the receiver of the Ariel and Gabriel funds. Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, claimed the settlements impeded his ability to recoup fraudulent transfers that Madoff made to Merkin and Fairfield, and which belong to the firm's estate. Writing for the appeals court, however, Circuit Judge Robert Sack said Picard "is incapable of establishing either that the settlements would in fact have an immediate adverse economic consequence for the BLMIS estate, or that the estate is likely to suffer irreparable harm" if the settlements go ahead.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/08/us-madoff-feederfunds-idUSKBN…
Don’t miss Irving Picard’s keynote, “Tales from the Madoff Bankruptcy,” at ABI’s 34th Annual Midwestern Bankruptcy Institute on Oct. 16-17 in Kansas City, Mo. Click here to register: http://www.abiworld.org/MW14/index.htm