NEW YORK — A 97-year-old Boston-area apparel entrepreneur agreed Tuesday to forfeit $625 million to be distributed to cheated investors in jailed financier Bernard Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme, authorities revealed, as a court trustee said negotiations are underway to recover money from the owners of the New York Mets as well.
The U.S. government said in papers filed in federal court in Manhattan that Massachusetts businessman and philanthropist Carl Shapiro, one of Madoff’s friends and first investors, entered the forfeiture deal along with his partners.
The papers were filed to recover the money from the accounts of JPMorgan Chase Bank, where some of the Shapiro investments were held. The government said proceeds of the settlement with Shapiro would be distributed to Madoff investors.
The papers said Shapiro held an account in his name with Madoff’s investment business since 1961 and had controlled accounts for others from time to time. Madoff started his investment business in 1959.
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, who include the owners of the Mets baseball team.
A year ago, Picard said the Mets made nearly $48 million in Madoff’s scheme. He is trying to recover profits made by some investors at the expense of others — known as a “clawback” — so they can be redistributed.
