A judge threw out $20 billion in lawsuits against banks accused of helping Bernie Madoff in his Ponzi scheme. The ruling is the latest in a series of losses for Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee who has tried to go after financial institutions—particularly J.P. Morgan Chase and UBS—that backed Madoff and overlooked warning signs of fraud. The judge ruled that Picard couldn’t recover a lump sum of the $100 billion in lawsuits he’s seeking because as a trustee he represents Madoff’s bankrupt firm, not his clients who are owed the money. Picard has thus far helped recover roughly $11 billion of money lost in the scheme, and has said he will appeal the ruling.
