In an opinion yesterday, Judge Batts dismissed claims by investors in a Madoff feeder fund against the fund’s managers and auditors because, under the law of the British Virgin Islands (where the funds were organized), only the fund had standing to assert the claims. If fact, she noted, similar claims against the same defendants are being pursued by the fund itself in BVI liquidation proceedings:
Continue Reading Judge Batts: Investors in Madoff Feeder Fund Lack Standing to Sue Fund Managers and Auditors
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Judge Maas Rejects Request to Depose SEC Officials to Prove Madoff’s Elusiveness
By Charles Michael on
In the civil litigation against the Madoff feeder fund Fairfield Greenwich, its auditors and others, Judge Maas on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), denied the defendants’ letter motion to compel depositions of two SEC employees for the purpose of showing that, since Madoff successfully deceived the SEC, he could have also deceived the defendants. Judge Maas found the proposed depositions to be of “marginal relevance”:
Continue Reading Judge Maas Rejects Request to Depose SEC Officials to Prove Madoff’s Elusiveness
SEC Opposes Subpoenas for Its Employees to Testify About Having Missed Madoff Fraud
By Charles Michael on
In the civil litigation against the Madoff feeder fund Fairfield Greenwich and other related parties, the defendants issued deposition subpoenas to nine current and former SEC employees for the purpose of eliciting testimony showing that, since Madoff successfully deceived the SEC, he could have also deceived the defendants. In a letter from the SEC posted…
Judge Marrero Denies Madoff Trustee’s Motion to Void Class Action Against Feeder Fund
By Charles Michael on
In a decision yesterday, Judge Marrero denied a motion from the trustee for Bernard Madoff’s investment firm to declare void, and undo a preliminary partial settlement, in the “Anwar” class action against Fairfield Greenwich, a Madoff feeder fund. Judge Marrero ruled that the Anwar plaintiffs were not customers or creditors of Madoff’s firm, but third parties with claims against Fairfield and other third parties. Judge Marrero first rejected the trustee’s argument that claims of the Anwar plaintiffs should be stayed on the ground that they would limit the recoverable assets of the debtor firm, referred to as “BLMIS”:
Continue Reading Judge Marrero Denies Madoff Trustee’s Motion to Void Class Action Against Feeder Fund
Judge Marrero Certifies Class Action Against Madoff Feeder Fund
By Charles Michael on
Judge Marerro yesterday certified a class against the Fairfield Greenwich feeder funds that invested with Bernard Madoff. He rejected the argument that individual reliance questions precluded class certification: “[E]ven assuming Defendants’ claims that certain communications to class members may not have been uniform, they allegedly were uniformly misleading.” The defendants also argued that class certification…