From JPMorgan claims no wrongdoing in Madoff mess - NYP, 2011 February 09
..... Firing back, JPMorgan said in a lengthy court filing that Picard was effectively trying to get the courts to create new law holding banks to much tougher accountability standards. “The trustee is entirely wrong in asserting that JPMorgan violated any federal statutes or regulations; quite simply, the trustee's interpretation of federal banking law would impose broad investigative duties on banks that do not exist,” the bank's lawyers wrote. The bank also challenged Picard's legal standing to bring the case. JPMorgan said that as the trustee for Madoff's company, he had no authority to bring what amounted to “an enormous backdoor class action” on behalf of Madoff's customers. ..... < snip > JPMorgan Chase, the bank where Bernard Madoff kept his clients' money, said in a court filing Tuesday that it had no legal obligation to figure out that the Ponzi king's investment scheme was a fraud. ..... < snip >
Sounds familiar - this is effectively a "deep pockets" class action extortion suit à la Milberg Weiss; it's not within the letter, the spirit or the purview of the "clawback" law. A quick dismissal should put Picard in his place and back on track looking for the money and the real culprits / co-conspirators, not the scapegoats.
Lest we forget---Milberg and Lerach are enjoying the facilities at the Graybar Hotel (.snix).
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The "class action" scam.
EXCERPT---NYP---June 3, 2008 -- Mel Weiss, co-founder and chief trial counsel for the securities law firm Milberg LLP, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years for illegally paying clients to file shareholder suits that earned $251M in fees. Weiss pleaded guilty, admitting he helped secretly pay a stable of plaintiffs to file 150 suits, 1979-2005. They and their counterparts engineered cases and paid litigants to sue, that forced companies to payout $45B.........and damaged millions of stockholders. Indictments included racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, money laundering. Lerach also made shady donations to John Edwards’ campaign.