Court Appointee Pursues Madoff Investors

A court-appointed trustee charged with recovering money for the victims of Bernard Madoff is preparing a series of lawsuits to win back money from investors who gained financially from their association with Madoff.

Irving Picard told The Wall Street Journal he may sue a total of about 1,000 individual investors who withdrew more money from Madoff's firm that they invested. "The people who made money, who got more, have made money at the expense of the people who didn't," Picard told the Journal.

Picard has until December, the two-year anniversary of Madoff's arrest, to file the lawsuits. He has already filed about 15 civil suits against Madoff's brother and sons as well investment funds and rich investors, among others. The lawsuits are seeking a total of over $15 billion.

Madoff is currently serving a 150-year prison sentence in North Carolina.