Madoff Victims Say Receiver ‘Barred’ From Getting Paid

For the fourth time, unhappy victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme have objected to the bills presented by the court-appointed receiver in the $65 billion fraud case.

The law firm of Baker & Hostetler, which employs trustee Irving Picard, filed a request last month for $34.6 million in legal fees for work conducted between February and May. The request totals some $288,189 per day, including weekends and holidays.

The group of “several hundred” Madoff investors argue in their own court filing that Picard is improperly trying to minimize payments—the “several hundred” are among those who object to Picard’s refusal to use Madoff’s final bogus account statements, creating “a conflict of interest as a result of which they are barred from receiving any compensation under established precedents and principles of professional conduct,” a lawyer for the investors, Helen Davis Chaitman, wrote.

Picard and Baker & Hostetler have already been paid more than $62 million; he has recovered more than $1.5 billion for Madoff victims, and is seeking billions more through lawsuits against Madoff investors and family members.

Madoff is serving 150 years after pleading guilty last year to running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.