Madoff Ponzi Deniers Seek Records to Shield Their $100 Million

  • About 100 customers seek access to trustee’s trading database
  • Bankruptcy judge says data may resolve ‘he-said-she-said’ spat

Bernard Madoff is placed in handcuffs inside Manhattan federal court in New York. 

Artist: Christine Cronell

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Scores of Bernard Madoff’s former customers are pushing for access to a massive database of trading records and other documents seized from the con man’s now-defunct securities firm to advance a fringe theory about the epic fraud: It wasn’t a Ponzi scheme.

Bizarre though it sounds, there’s a reason why they’re advancing the claim: If it wasn’t a Ponzi scheme, they needn’t surrender more than $100 million in what the trustee of Madoff’s firm calls false trading profits.