NEW YORK (Reuters) - Victims of Bernard Madoff's fraud may recover less money than they had hoped after a federal appeals court limited the ability of the trustee liquidating the swindler's firm to recoup "fictitious profits" and other transfers from customers.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York on Monday said federal bankruptcy law did now allow the trustee Irving Picard to recoup a variety of securities-related payments made to customers by Madoff's firm before it collapsed.
Picard, who has so far recouped about $10.5 billion, had sought the ability to claw back money sent to various customers in the six years before Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC went bankrupt in December 2008.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)
