Sec. Investor Prot. Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC

597 B.R. 466
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 18, 2019
DocketAdv. Pro. No. 08-01789 (SMB)(Substantively Consolidated); Adv. Pro. No. 10-04390 (SMB)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 597 B.R. 466 (Sec. Investor Prot. Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sec. Investor Prot. Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Inv. Sec. LLC, 597 B.R. 466 (N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

STUART M. BERNSTEIN, United States Bankruptcy Judge:

The Defendants filed proofs of claim and the Trustee responded with a fraudulent transfer action. The Defendants subsequently withdrew their claims with prejudice, moved in the District Court to withdraw the reference and moved in this Court to stay a previously scheduled trial of this adversary proceeding. The latter motion raises the question of whether a bankruptcy court loses its equitable jurisdiction over a fraudulent transfer action because the defendant-creditor withdraws his proof of claim after the adversary proceeding was filed but before the bankruptcy court has tried the matter. The Court concludes that it acquired equitable jurisdiction over the Trustee's fraudulent transfer action when it was commenced under the time-of-filing rule, and the Defendants' withdrawal of their claims did not destroy it. Accordingly, the Defendants' motion to stay the trial on that basis is denied.1

BACKGROUND2

This adversary proceeding arises out of the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff through Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC ("BLMIS"). The background to Madoff's scheme has been recounted in numerous reported opinions, see, e.g. , Picard v. Ida Fishman Revocable Trust (In re BLMIS ), 773 F.3d 411, 415 (2d Cir. 2014), cert. denied , --- U.S. ----, 135 S.Ct. 2859, 192 L.Ed.2d 910 (2015) ;

*471Picard v. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (In re BLMIS ), 721 F.3d 54, 58-59 (2d Cir. 2013), cert. denied , 573 U.S. 945, 134 S.Ct. 2895, 189 L.Ed.2d 832 (2014) ; SIPC v. BLMIS (In re BLMIS ), 424 B.R. 122, 125-32 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2010), aff'd , 654 F.3d 229 (2d Cir. 2011) (" Net Equity Decision "), cert. denied , 567 U.S. 934, 133 S.Ct. 24, 25, 183 L.Ed.2d 675 (2012), and the Court limits the discussion to the facts necessary to explain this decision.

On December 15, 2008, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation ("SIPC") commenced a liquidation against BLMIS under the Securities Investor Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78aaa et seq. ("SIPA").3 The District Court appointed Irving H. Picard, Esq. as trustee ("Trustee"), see SIPA § 78eee(b)(3), and removed the liquidation to this Court, SIPA § 78eee(b)(4), where it is to be conducted, to the extent consistent with SIPA, in accordance with chapters 1, 3 and 5 and subchapters I and II of chapter 7 of title 11. See SIPA § 78fff(b).

A. Claims Allowance Process

SIPA § 78fff-2 sets out the general parameters of the claims procedure in a SIPA liquidation. Following his or her appointment, the SIPA trustee must publish notice of the proceedings and mail notice to each customer. SIPA imposes two time limits for filing a statement of claim keyed to the notice of publication - an initial time limit of sixty days or less and an outer time limit of six-months. A customer who files the claim during the initial period has greater rights regarding the satisfaction of his net equity claim than the customer who files after the initial period but before the six-month deadline, see Camp v. Morey (In re Gov't Sec. Corp. ), 107 B.R. 1012, 1018-1019 (S.D. Fla. 1989), but the distinction is irrelevant in this case. After receipt of the written statement of claim, the SIPA trustee is required to promptly discharge the obligations or net equity claims owed to the customer "insofar as such obligations are ascertainable from the books and records of the debtor or are otherwise established to the satisfaction of the trustee." SIPA § 78fff-2(b). SIPA does not set out a claims objection or claims resolution procedure.

Accordingly, the Court established a thorough procedure for resolving claims, see Peskin v. Picard , 440 B.R. 579, 585 (S.D.N.Y. 2010), in the Order on Application for an Entry of an Order Approving Form and Manner of Publication and Mailing of Notices, Specifying Procedures for Filing, Determination, and Adjudication of Claims; and Providing Other Relief , dated Dec. 23, 2008 ("Claims Procedure Order ") (ECF Main Case Doc. # 12). The Claims Procedure Order tracked the time limits under SIPA. (See Claims Procedure Order at 7.) In the event the Trustee determined that the customer's statement of claim was not supported by BLMIS' books and records, the following procedures governed the resolution of the dispute: (i) the Trustee notified the customer in writing of his determination to disallow the claim, in whole or in part, and his reasons, (id. at 6); (ii) if the customer disagreed with the Trustee's determination, he had thirty days to file a written statement of his opposition along with supporting documentation, failing which "the Trustee's determination shall be deemed approved by the Court and binding on the *472claimant," (id. at 7); and (iii) upon receipt of the customer's opposition, the Trustee would obtain a hearing date from the Court and notify the customer. (Id. )

B. The Defendants' Claims and the Trustee's Determinations

Per the Claims Procedure Order , Michael Mann and Meryl Mann served the Trustee with a statement of claim, dated June 16, 2009, for BLMIS Account No. 1CM363 (the "Mann Claim"), in the amount $ 7,192,467.45.4

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Bluebook (online)
597 B.R. 466, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sec-investor-prot-corp-v-bernard-l-madoff-inv-sec-llc-nysb-2019.