Thursday, August 5, 2010

Madoff Settlement on Hold

Irving Picard, the man charged with recovering money for the Madoff victims, has for months been touting that he was close to reaching a big settlement with the estate of Jeffry Picower, a Florida businessman whom Picard has said withdrew $7.2 billion from the Madoff Ponzi scheme.

But the deal isn’t quite ready to be finalized; it’s gotten delayed by other lawsuits competing for the same funds. Click here for the WSJ story, from reporter Michael Rothfeld.

Lawyers for Picard have said in court that the proposed deal with Picower would far exceed $2 billion, more than doubling what he has collected to date.

But the negotiations have stalled, largely over a pair of lawsuits against the Picower estate in federal court in Florida, people familiar with the situation said.

The suits, which seek class-action status, were filed for Madoff investors whose claims were rejected entirely or in part by Picard on grounds that they were based on fictitious profits and not actual losses.

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