MANHATTAN (CN) - The trustee seeking recovery for victims of Bernard Madoff's $70 billion Ponzi scheme demands $9 billion from HSBC bank, which trustee Irving Picard claims "look[ed] the other way" and "pretend[ed] they were ensuring the existence of assets and trades when, in fact, they did no such thing."
Picard's latest complaint accuses HSBC and a slew of co-defendants of supporting a network of feeder funds that helped Madoff sustain his giant scam.
The trustee claims that HSBC twice hired KPMG to take a look at Madoff's firm, and both time KPMG reported "serious risks already known to HSBC," Reuters reported this morning.
Picard sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $6.4 billion last week, and has asked for $2 billion from Swiss bank UBS.
The raft of filings is coming now because Picard must file such lawsuits for recovery within 2 years after Madoff and his firm filed for bankruptcy, which was on Dec. 11, 2008.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.