PONZI SCHEME

Mets’ Owners Must Pay Madoff Victims

Judge orders payment of $83 million.

A federal judge ordered the owners of the New York Mets to pay $83 million in damages to the victims of Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme—while also possibly facing a civil suit. U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled Monday that Mets owner Fred Wilpon must stand trial in a suit brought by Madoff victims’ trustee Irving Picard that is seeking to recover $386 million to distribute among the victims. Picard has accused Wilpon and fellow owner Saul Katz of being willfully ignorant of Madoff’s massive fraud during the years that they invested in the crooked financial adviser. In other bad news for the Mets, the team’s former outfielder Lenny Dykstra was sentenced Monday to three years in a California prison for his role in a car theft. There’s one bright spot for the team: they face off in their first preseason game on Monday night in Florida.