Madoff Victims' Legal 'Savior' Accused of Conflicts in Lawsuit

A New York lawyer who was scammed by Bernard Madoff has for years held herself out as a courtroom "savior" to other victims, offering to help them keep investment profit or recover lost principal while ignoring her own conflicts of interest, two clients said in a proposed class-action suit.

Helen Davis Chaitman, who signed up hundreds of fellow victims as her clients since the con man’s arrest almost a decade ago, made a name for herself suing the trustee unwinding Madoff’s defunct securities firm in bankruptcy court. Her central claim is that the trustee, Irving Picard, is wrongfully setting claims based on money deposited minus money withdrawn, when they should be based on victims’ final account statements, which include fake profit.