Peter Madoff is facing repercussions stemming from his brother’s Ponzi scheme. According to Bloomberg.com, Bernard Madoff’s brother has had his assets frozen in relation to a lawsuit filed by an investor whole lost nearly a half million in the fraud.
Peter Madoff served as a trustee for a $470,000 trust held by Andrew Ross Samuels, a New York law student. Samuel’s is suing Peter Madoff for $2 million for breaching his fiduciary duty by investing his inheritance with his brother, Bloomberg said.
“We’re doing this because we think what Peter did was wrong,” Howard Samuels, a Dix Hills, N.Y., lawyer and Andrew Ross Samuels’s father, told The Wall Street Journal . “Either he knew or should have known” that Bernard Madoff was operating a massive fraud, “and either way, he was grossly negligent,” he said.
According to Bloomberg.com, the asset freeze agreed to by New York Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bucaria pertains to all of Peter Madoff’s property. It prevents him from removing, transferring or encumbering any funds or property and requires him to disclose all assets he owns. The freeze will stay in place at least until an April 3 hearing.
Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 fraud counts earlier this month. He is currently in jail awaiting a June sentencing. He faces 150 years in prison.
