Legal News

Trustee in Madoff: Bernie Can Make Do Without the Cars

By Dan Slater

Last week the Law Blog gawked at Marc Dreier’s worldly assets, which included an Aston Martin, a BMW 650i convertible, and two Benzos. One Reader questioned what the vehicles said about Dreier the Man.

Today, we learn that the folks at BMIS, or Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, liked cars too. Irving Picard, the trustee in the Madoff case, has asked a federal judge to cancel leases the firm had on six luxury cars, including three Mercedes and a Range Rover. Picard wrote that the vehicles “are of no use or value to the creditors” of the firm and he wanted to cancel the leases to “minimize the costs of administration in this case.” Here’s the WSJ story.

Without further ado, the cars are:

• 2007 Land Rover Range Rover (pictured)
• 2008 Cadillac DTS
• 2009 Mercedes S550-4
• 2007 Mercedes S550V
• 2008 Mercedes GL450 sport-utility vehicle
• 2006 Lexus

A court filing said five of the cars were returned to New York City and Long Island dealerships in late December; the Lexus was returned last week to a dealership in West Palm Beach, Fla., close to Madoff’s home. The filing does not say what the vehicles were used for or who had authorization to drive them and does not list the terms of the leases. Picard wrote that Madoff “is no longer actively conducting any business that requires the use of the vehicles.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 22, 2009 (boomark / email).