NEW YORK (AP) -- A private Swiss bank has agreed to pay up to $500 million to investors defrauded by Bernie Madoff.
The trustee appointed to recover money for the notorious Ponzi schemer's victims on Monday said he reached an agreement with Geneva-based bank Union Bancaire Privee, and M-Invest Ltd., a corporation the bank set up in the Cayman Islands to invest with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
Trustee Irving H. Picard said the settlement is for no less than $470 million in cash and could reach $500 million. The deal was submitted for approval Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. A hearing was scheduled for Jan. 6.
The deal was announced a day after Picard sued British bank HSBC seeking $9 billion in illicit earnings and damages. Picard alleged HSBC helped funnel more than $8.9 billion to Madoff through a dozen so-called feeder funds based in Europe, the Caribbean and Central America. He also says HSBC ignored warnings from its own accountants that Madoff's phenomenal investment record was suspect.
"The UBP settlement agreement is the largest feeder fund bank cash settlement to date and the first major international bank settlement, two important milestones for the overall recovery initiative," Picard said in a statement.
Last week, Picard sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $6.4 billion, charging the bank had a central role in working with the disgraced financier as he carried out his fraud. He has also pursued more than $30 million he claims Madoff's family members squirreled away.
All of the funds recovered through the settlement will go to a fund set up for Madoff's customers.
Madoff is serving a 150-year term in federal prison.
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