$12B Withdrawn From Madoff Accounts Before Arrest

Operators of so-called feeder funds withdrew $12 billion from Bernie Madoff's accounts in the year before his arrest, nearly half of it in the final three months, reports the New York Times. The analysis of financial records offers hope that defrauded investors will be able to recoup at least some of their money. The trustee handling the Madoff bankruptcy filed two lawsuits today to regain $6 billion from two funds that worked closely with the financier.

One of the lawsuits, against prominent Florida money manager Jeffry M. Picower and his wife, alleges that the couple knew of Madoff's Ponzi scheme and actually helped him carry it out. Their lawyer disputed the charge. “Mr. and Mrs. Picower considered themselves friends of the Madoffs for over 35 years,” he said. “They were totally shocked by his fraud and were in no way complicit in it.” (More Bernard Madoff stories.)