A U.S. bankruptcy judge barred a class action lawsuit filed in Florida against the estate of former Bernard Madoff investor Jeffry Picower, Bloomberg reported today. Madoff Trustee Irving H. Picard settled a lawsuit against the Picower estate for $7.2 billion in 2010 after alleging that Picower knew of and profited from Madoff’s fraud. Pamela Goldman and a related partnership asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland to let their suit go forward, even after similar actions had been barred by Lifland and other judges on appeal, the judge said yesterday in an order filed in court. The judge’s ruling on the Florida class action may help Picard, who has been fighting to preserve his sole right to sue to recover money for the con man’s customers. Customers who have little prospect of being paid by Picard, along with other parties, say he is interfering with their rights. Picower drowned in 2009, and his estate forfeited the money to the U.S. and Picard. The Lifland ruling is on the docket of the main case: Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, 08-ap-1789, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
