NY trustee: Philanthropy invested with Madoff should have known returns were fraudulent

NY trustee sues philanthropy in Madoff case

NEW YORK — The trustee overseeing the liquidation of Bernard Madoff’s assets has sued one of the nation’s leading educational philanthropies.

The complaint filed Tuesday in Manhattan bankruptcy court alleges the Picower Foundation and several related entities made nearly $7 billion by investing with Madoff. It claims much of the windfall came out of the pockets of victims of a giant Ponzi scheme.

An attorney for foundation founders Jeffry Picower and his wife Barbara — friends of Madoff for decades — denied allegations they knew about the fraud. Their foundation had given millions to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other causes.

The 70-year-old Madoff pleaded guilty in March to charges that his secretive investment advisory operation was a multibillion-dollar scam.