U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that the bankruptcy judge overseeing Bernard Madoff’s liquidation can hear lawsuits the trustee brought against customers over fraudulent transfers and submit proposed rulings to a higher court, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The decision Judge Rakoff is a defeat for Madoff defendants in more than 300 lawsuits, who had asked him to take the suits away from Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Stern v. Marshall. “Efficiency” will be improved by having recommendations from a bankruptcy judge who has “both intimate familiarity with the underlying liquidation and substantial expertise in the bankruptcy law,” Judge Rakoff said in his ruling.
