The owners of the New York Mets have fired a high, hard fastball at Irving Picard, the trustee recovering money for victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, calling his lawsuit against Mets ownership a “work of fiction.”
Picard is seeking $1 billion from the Mets owners, Fred and Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz, alleging that they knew, or should have known, that Madoff was operating a Ponzi scheme. The Wilpons and Katz filed their response Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
“After months of damaging leaks, false accusations and withholding of evidence, we can finally legally respond to the work of fiction created by the Trustee,” Fred Wilpon and his brother-in-law Katz said in a statement. “Let us be very clear: We did not know that Madoff was engaged in a fraud. There were no red flags and we received no warnings.”
Mario Cuomo, former New York governor, has been appointed to mediate the dispute.