Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Sonja Kohn, chairwoman of the Austrian bank that invested $3.2 billion in funds managed by Bernard Madoff, denied receiving payments from a brokerage firm linked to the New Yorker, Wall Street Journal reported, citing her lawyer, who wasn’t named.

The Massachusetts secretary of state said in a legal complaint that payments to Kohn, who oversees Austria’s Bank Medici AG, were made through Cohmad Securities, a brokerage partially owned by Madoff, the newspaper said. Madoff’s firm paid $526,000 to Cohmad for Kohn, Wall Street Journal reported.

Kohn’s lawyer said she hasn’t been involved with Cohmad or its largest shareholder Maurice Cohen for about 10 years or more, according to the newspaper.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sheenagh Matthews in Frankfurt at smatthews6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 14, 2009 07:23 EST