William Prickett Quoted in the Financial Times
"Big Madoff Investors Targeted"

William Prickett was quoted in the Financial Times article, "Big Madoff Investors Targeted," published February 25, 2009. The article discussed how Irivin Picard, the trustee charged with tracking down money to repay victims of Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme, plans to target big investors such as hedge funds that pulled substantial amounts of false profits out of the broker's operation. The article noted that under federal and New York law, investors who withdrew either principal or profits in the 90 days before Madoff's December 11th arrest are particularly vulnerable to so-called "clawbacks", but the trustee will be able to reach back up to six years in some cases. According to the article, while some of Madoff’s former customers believe such a move would penalize investors who did their homework, there is a clear precedent. The article explained that in the 2005 collapse of Bayou Management, the courts ruled that investors had to return the money they had taken out if they had warning that the $450 million hedge fund was not all it seemed. Will, who was involved in the Bayou case, noted, "I would be surprised if the trustee did not attempt to pursue secondary recipients in the context of a large redemption by a large investor, especially if there were some red flags."