NEW YORK — U.S. authorities revealed a deal today to recover $625 million from a longtime friend of jailed financier Bernard Madoff while a trustee seeking other funds for cheated investors said negotiations are under way to recover money from the owner of the New York Mets.
The U.S. government said in papers filed in federal court in Manhattan that Massachusetts businessman and philanthropist Carl Shapiro, one of the early investors in Madoff’s investment business, has agreed to forfeit $625 million. The 97-year-old Shapiro is a well known Boston-area apparel entrepreneur and philanthropist.
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The papers were filed by the government to recover the money from the accounts of JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.
That action proceeded as court-appointed trustee Irving Picard filed a complaint under seal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to recover money from Sterling Equities, along with its partners and family members. Picard said his office was “engaged in good-faith negotiations” with the Sterling defendants, which include the owners of the New York Mets baseball team.
In a statement of its own, Sterling agreed with Picard that the sealing of his lawsuit was necessary because the parties are negotiating a settlement.
It added: “Regardless of the outcome of these discussions, we want to emphasize that the New York Mets will have all the necessary financial and operational resources to fully compete and win. That is our commitment to our fans and to New York.”
The latest actions come as a deadline approaches this weekend to file court papers before the revelation of the fraud reaches two years.
In December 2008, Madoff revealed to his sons and later to the FBI that he had operated a bogus investment business for decades, reporting to investors that their $21 billion had risen in value to more than $65 billion when it actually had dwindled to just a few hundred million dollars. The 72-year-old Madoff is serving a 150-year prison term after pleading guilty to fraud.
A spokesman for Shapiro did not immediately return a phone message for comment.
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