Madoff Securities International liquidators obtain recognition
in U.S., freeze vintage Aston Martin
Enquiries to:
Simon Rothschild
Bankside Consultants Tel: 00 44 (0) 20 7367
8888/00 44 (0)7703 167 065
The Joint Provisional Liquidators of Madoff Securities
International Limited (MSIL), the UK company that had been owned
and operated by convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff, have obtained
recognition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and have obtained an order
restraining a vintage DB 2/4 Aston Martin automobile registered to
Peter Madoff, Bernard’s brother and director of compliance at his
rogue trading firm, The automobile was purchased
by Bernard for his brother Peter for over $235,000 using funds
taken from MSIL.
The Joint Provisional Liquidators are Mark Byers, Andrew Hosking
and Steve Akers, all partners in Grant Thornton UK LLP.
The Joint Provisional Liquidators sought recognition of their
right to act for MSIL under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code,
which allows foreign liquidators to obtain assistance in the U.S.
Courts in investigating, locating and seizing assets that belong to
non-U.S company. The MSIL Liquidators were appointed by the
English High Court in December 2008 and have been working closely
with the U.S. Trustee for Bernard Madoff International Securities
(BMIS), the company described by its founder, Bernard Madoff, as a
“giant Ponzi scheme,” which he estimated to have lost $65 billion
of investor funds.
MSIL was a trading operation in London that principally traded
for the benefit of the Madoff family. MSIL funds were used to
make numerous large purchases for the Madoffs, including yachts,
houses and automobiles.
“We are grateful for the recognition and assistance of the U.S.
courts,” said Steve Akers, a Joint Provisional Liquidator of MSIL
and partner of Grant Thornton UK LLP in London “We hope to be able
not only to obtain assets for the benefit of creditors, but also to
use the discovery processes that US courts provide to assist
foreign liquidators to learn as much as we can about the assets of
Madoff International for the benefit of victims of this enormous
fraud.”
“As an insolvency practitioner, I have sought assistance from U.S.
courts and U.S. authorities on a number of previous
occasions. U.S. courts and U.S. authorities have in the past
provided enormous help to me in identifying and collecting assets
for the benefit of creditors worldwide, and we hope to do the same
here.”
Mr. Akers was previously a liquidator of Bank of Credit and
Commerce International, one of the largest frauds and insolvencies
in history and has been liquidator of a number of investment and
hedge funds and other financial institutions.
John Verrill, of Dundas & Wilson in London who is
coordinating international legal strategy for the Joint Provisional
Liquidators, stated, “We have been working in Europe and many
offshore jurisdictions under established mechanisms for obtaining
assets and assistance. The assistance of the United States
will also be of crucial importance in identifying and recapturing
assets wherever they can be found.”