Wilpon, Picard Settle Lawsuit

Fred Wilpon et. al and Irving Picard have agreed to settle rather than go to trial over the business of liquidating the assets of former financier Bernard Madoff. The Wilpons will have to pay $162 million into the fund for the victims of Madoff's ponzi scheme, including the $83 million that the Federal Judge presiding over the case had already ordered them to pay, meaning that they will pay an additional $79 million into the fund. The process began in 2010 and was mediated by former New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

In addition, as victims of the ponzi scheme themselves, the Mets will have the opportunity to collect some, most, or all of the $162 million they have paid into the fund when the stolen money is redistributed to the victims. Jury selection for the trial was to have taken place today. The settlement also concedes that Mets owner Fred Wilpon and Mets President Saul Katz were not "willfully blind" when investing with Madoff.

Fred Wilpon is simply happy to be able to focus on his multiple businesses again, including the New York Mets. Saul Katz is simply happy to be moving past the "negative energy" brought about by the lawsuit. The $162 million is based upon withdrawal of profits by Wilpon and Katz from Madoff's ponzi scheme from 2002 to 2008, which is concurrent with the timeline Picard is using to recover funds from other investors.

Picard and his attorneys have stated that they and the Wilpons will be partners going forward, as they will view the real estate moguls as victims hereafter. Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies in 2009. Thus far, Picard has recovered $9 billion of the estimated $60 billion stolen by Madoff.

Picard had originally sued the Wilpons for $1 billion, but that total was knocked down to $386 million before a judge ordered the Wilpons to pay $83 million into the fund and a trial date was set, knocking the total amount of money remaining in the lawsuit to $303 million before the two sides agreed to settle with the Wilpons paying an additional $79 million into the fund. Notable witnesses in the trial included former LHP Sandky Koufax - testifying as a witness for the defense as a fellow victim of the ponzi scheme - and a host of current and former employees of Sterling Equities who were testifying for the prosecution on grounds that they allegedly told the Wilpons that Madoff's returns at greater than 12 percent in a recession were "too good to be true."