P R Newswire: As the filing deadline loomed at midnight Saturday, Irving H. Picard, the Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BLMIS”) today announced the filing of a complaint against Frank Avellino, Michael Bienes, their wives, son Thomas Avellino as well as other family members, and family-controlled trusts and entities. The Trustee seeks to recover more than $900 million that the defendants withdrew from BLMIS during times they knew or should have known that BLMIS was operating fraudulently. All monies recovered will be deposited in the Customer Fund for equitable distribution to BLMIS customers with valid claims.
“Frank Avellino and Michael Bienes are among the earliest enablers of Bernard Madoff‘s,” said Mr. Picard. “They operated BLMIS’s first feeder fund, a partnership known as Avellino & Bienes, which not only fueled the initial growth of the Ponzi scheme, but also helped sustain it for years.” Read more……
Picard also announced that he has reached settlements with a number of charities and nonprofit organizations. To date, settlements total more than $80 million and resolve potential claims against charities which withdrew more than they deposited in the Madoff Ponzi scheme and, in some cases, were the recipients of donations that were made with other people’s money. Read more……
