Victims of Bernard Madoff's massive fraud are not entitled to inflation or interest adjustments on their claims, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday, in a decision that could speed the return of more than $1 billion to the swindler's former customers.
Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, said he will seek permission from a federal bankruptcy judge to distribute that sum, on top of $7.2 billion paid out so far, as soon as possible.
Picard has kept the additional money in reserve because of litigation over whether former customers deserved "time-based" damages on claims arising from Madoff's Ponzi scheme that was uncovered in 2008.
In Friday's decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said that because the Securities Investor Protection Act, a federal law that helps victims of failed brokerages, did not address such damages, Picard had the flexibility to choose the fairest method to determine the size of valid claims.
Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Chester Straub also said it would be unfair to adjust for inflation and interest the claims of earlier customers, at the expense of later customers.
"Even if all customer property were miraculously recovered, it would be insufficient to satisfy customer claims to the extent such claims were increased to reflect inflation," Straub wrote. "An inflation adjustment to net equity claims could allow some customers to obtain, in effect, a protection from inflation for which they never bargained."
Friday's decision upheld a Sept. 2013 ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland in Manhattan.
Lifland said Madoff's customers had not bargained for inflation protection or guaranteed returns, and that calculating inflation and interest adjustments would be impossible because their final account statements had been fabricated.
No decision has been made on further appeals.
"It's obviously a disappointment," Greg Schwed, who argued the appeal for some claimants, said in a phone interview.
Amanda Remus, a spokeswoman for Picard, called the decision an "important milestone," saying the only obstacle to the additional payout was a further appeal. Picard is hopeful any further delay would be viewed as "pointless," she said.
Lifland died in January 2014.
Picard has recouped $10.55 billion for Madoff victims who lost an estimated $17.5 billion of principal. Madoff, 76, is serving a 150-year prison term after pleading guilty to running a decades-long fraud.
The case is In re: Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 14-97.
