The trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard Madoff’s ill-gotten assets apparently plans to file civil charges against some of Madoff’s relatives.
In an interview on the CBS news program "60 Minutes," the trustee, Irving Picard, said Madoff’s brother, Peter, his two sons, Andrew and Mark, and niece, Shana, could face civil suits as early as this week.
All four relatives were employed in senior positions with Madoff’s stock trading business, located two floors above the offices where Madoff operated his massive Ponzi scheme.
In the interview aired Sunday night, Picard and his chief counsel David Sheehan said the evidence they’ve uncovered since Madoff was arrested in December has led them to believe Madoff’s family members had to have known that Madoff was not on the level.
The attorneys said the Madoff family members invested minimal amounts in Madoff’s investment business and later made sizable withdrawals. In addition, the family members all used the investment firm essentially as their private bank account, charging vacations, meals and shopping sprees on credit cards that drew on funds held by the phony investment firm.
The attorneys said the salaries earned by the family members, and the expensive lifestyles they lived were all attributable to Madoff’s fraud.
Consequently, all of the relatives could be liable for forfeiture of funds they are still holding onto.
A spokesman for Picard said the trustee would have no comment on the timing of possible lawsuits against Madoff relatives. Attorneys for the Madoff family members were not immediately available to comment.
Madoff’s Right Hand Man Pleads GuiltyFormer AIG chief, others settle suit for $115 million
