John Malkovich Sues Bernard Madoff

A massive tug-of-war is going on between the John Malkovich Pension Plan and Trust against the firm of Bernard Madoff. Malkovich is hoping the federal bankruptcy court will grant him the $2.23 million he lost to the conman Madoff. So far, he has only been offered $670,000 by Irvin Picard, the trustee in charge of liquidating Madoff’s assets.

Malkovich’s lawyers, as well as others looking to recover, plan to argue that the actor is entitled to the balance listed on his last account statement before Madoff was exposed and arrested 11 days later in 2008 even if the sum was false. They argue, “A customer generally expects to receive what he believes is in his account at the time the stockbroker ceases business.”

They expect it to turn over an earlier ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland. He had ruled to go with Picard’s “net equity” method to figure out losses, calculating the differences between what was put in and taking out by investors. The entire Ponzi scheme is estimated to be $65 billion.

While the courts haven’t been overly sympathetic to the actor, he is at least in good company. Other stars that were scammed by Madoff include Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Steven Spielberg, Sandy Koufax, Barbara Bach, John Denver, and Larry King.

Bernard Madoff is currently serving a 150-year prison sentence.