Trustee Plans to Sue Madoff Scheme 'Winners'

Thanks to the nature of Ponzi schemes, some people who invested money with Bernie Madoff and got out early enough ended up actually making money. The court-appointed trustee recovering money for Madoff's victims, however, says he plans to sue up to 1,000 of the scheme's "winners" to regain the profits and make sure everybody's a loser, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Because Madoff just stuck everybody's money in a single account without investing it, people who believed they were taking money out of profitable investments were actually profiting at the expense of less fortunate investors, says Irving Picard. Picard has until December to file clawback lawsuits against the "winners." Though he has sent letters requesting payment and offering to settle, he's had very few responses.
(More Irving Picard stories.)