Bernard Madoff’s sons, Mark and Andrew, who worked in the trading section of the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, have moved to dismiss a civil complaint filed against them in October by Irving H. Picard, the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee in the case, arguing they too are “victims of their father’s terrible crimes.”
Mr. Picard, who’s been trying to liquidate the swindler’s assets, wants to force Madoff’s brother, Peter Madoff, two sons and niece (Peter Madoff’s daughter Shana Madoff Swanson) to repay almost $200 million that they allegedly withdrew from the firm over the years to pay for their lavish life style. The four family members are alleged to have received over $140 million in the six months prior to Bernard Madoff’s arrest.
The Madoff company “was operated as if it were the family piggy bank,” the complaint filed by Picard late last year said. But according to CNBC, in a 57 page filing late Monday, Andrew and Mark’s attorney Martin Flumenbaum, of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the law firm representing them, argued Picard’s complaint is “an exercise in gross overreaching” that is “long on rhetoric and short on legal or factual support.”
The motion to dismiss Picard’s complaint notes CNBC, emphasizes the fact that the sons acted immediately after their father confessed on December 10, 2008, reporting the crimes to authorities within hours and that they have co-operated fully with the US Attorney and the SEC in their investigations.
Madoff was arrested Dec. 11, 2008, and pled guilty in March after admitting of running a $60 billion giant Ponzi scheme through his 48-year-old investment company. He is serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison.
Flumenbaum has asked for a hearing in June on the sons’ motion.
Enough with Madoff already. I saw there’s now a Madoff coloring book on Amazon.