The trustee in charge of untangling the mess left behind by Bernard Madoff told a packed auditorium Friday there was no indication the disgraced money manager had bought securities for his clients for more than a decade. “We have no evidence to indicate securities were purchased for customer accounts” in the past 13 years, says Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. “This is a case where we’re going to be looking at cash in and cash out” — the definition of a Ponzi scheme.
Picard says he has recovered $950 million so far. Madoff was arrested in December after investigators said he confessed to his sons that he had swindled investors of $50 billion in a Ponzi scheme. The 70-year-old former Nasdaq chairman remains confined to his Manhattan apartment under house arrest. At a meeting for investors in lower Manhattan, Picard detailed the history of the case and how claims will be processed. His office has received 2,350 claims so far and expects the number to double before the July 2 deadline to submit claims.
