Reuters: Bankruptcy News: NY Mets owners' Madoff settlement OK'd by US judge

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NY Mets owners' Madoff settlement OK'd by US judge May 31st 2012, 23:32 By Basil Katz NEW YORK | Thu May 31, 2012 7:32pm EDT NEW YORK May 31 (Reuters) - A $162 million settlement between the owners of the New York Mets and the trustee seeking money for the victims of Bernard Madoff's fraud was approved by a U.S. judge on Thursday. The pact was announced on March 19 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on the beginning day of what would have been the first trial in the quest to recoup cash for Madoff's defrauded customers. It was a victory for brothers-in-law Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz and their family-run Sterling Equities real estate, baseball and hedge-fund empire. "This appears to the court to be a reasonable and adequate, fair settlement in the interests of the estate," Manhattan federal judge Jed Rakoff said. "The court hereby does approve the settlement." Wilpon and Katz will not have to pay out any cash immediately and the trustee, Irving Picard, dropped his allegation that they turned a blind eye to Madoff's fraud. For the trustee, the settlement could provide a template for other cases pending against hundreds of individuals, funds and banks. The court settlement calls for payments over a five-year period. Wilpon and Katz will not have to pay any cash until the fourth year. The $162 million could end up being mostly paid with money due to Sterling Equities as a victim of the fraud. Wilpon and Katz were accused of acting in bad faith in their dealings with Madoff over 25 years until December 2008. Their case would have been the first involving the imprisoned financier to go to trial. The Mets, who live in the shadow of the much more successful, world-famous New York Yankees, have struggled in recent years. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has said the team lost $70 million last year. Forbes magazine said in 2011 that the team was worth $747 million. The case is Picard v. Katz et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-03605. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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