The liquidators of the largest Virgin Islands-registered “feeder funds” that invested with Bernie Madoff suffered a major setback April 16 in their quest to “claw back” more than $1.4 billion from investors who withdrew their funds prior to the Dec. 11, 2008 discovery of the Ponzi scheme.
The decision from the territory’s highest court may severely reduce the amount of funds that fraud victims recover.
The insolvency firm KRyS Global, which has a VI office, is the liquidator of three VI-registered feeder funds: Fairfield Sentry, Fairfield Sigma and Fairfield Lambda. The funds’ investors lost an estimated $6-$7 billion, according to Ken Krys, the founder of KRyS Global.
A key part of the liquidators’ recovery strategy hinges on clawing back billions from former Fairfield investors who had redeemed their shares in the fund for cash prior to the discovery of the fraud.
A total of 33 claims filed in VI courts against former Fairfield shareholders — who included large institutional investors such as pension funds and international banks —seek to recover more than $1.4 billion.
But an April 16 ruling from the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council makes it much less likely that those claims will be successful.
See the April 24, 2014 edition for full coverage.
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