A federal judge has blocked litigation that the trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's firm said could undermine a $7.2 billion settlement meant to benefit the Ponzi schemer's former customers, Reuters reported yesterday. In a decision made public yesterday, U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods in Manhattan said that A&G Goldman Partnership and Pamela Goldman cannot pursue a Florida lawsuit to recover $11 billion from the estate of Jeffry Picower, who they say helped perpetuate Madoff's fraud. The decision is a victory for Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, whose settlement with Picower's estate is the largest since Madoff's fraud was uncovered in December 2008. Picard also won a permanent injunction in 2011 barring competing claims against the estate. Picower died in October 2009. In court papers, Picard said that letting the Goldman plaintiffs sue Picower's estate to recoup some $11 billion of customer losses, on top of the $7.2 billion, would create a "shadow" bankruptcy estate and undermine his authority to settle claims.
