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 federal 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.
For Picard: David Sheehan of Baker & Hostetler.
For Katz: Robert Wise and Karen Wagner of Davis Polk &
Wardwell.
(Reporting by Basil Katz)
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