A New York judge loosened a freeze on the assets of Peter Madoff, brother of convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff, allowing him $10,000 a month for expenses in addition to his mortgage, taxes and attorney fees.
State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bucaria on Long Island, who froze all of Peter Madoff’s assets March 25, Friday approved an order adopting the terms of a voluntary freeze Madoff agreed to with federal prosecutors in December. Bucaria’s original order stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Andrew Samuels, a 22-year-old law student who is seeking $2 million in damages.
“Now it’s going to be a race between me and the federal government if they decide to go after Peter Madoff’s money,” said Stephen Schlesinger, a lawyer for Samuels.
Samuels claims in his lawsuit that Peter Madoff lost $470,000 of his inheritance by investing with Bernard Madoff. Howard and Patricia Samuels, Andrew’s parents, separately lost about $20 million in Bernard Madoff’s fraud, Schlesinger said.
