Mets Owners Settle Lawsuit

[EmpireWF]

Federal Judge ruled moments ago the Mets brass will go to trial on March 19 against Trustees of the Victims of Bernie Madoff with $300 million+ on the line.

Plus, they will owe UP TO $83 million regardless of the trial.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7647107/new-york-mets-await-judge-call-status-386m-suit

The $83 million is from the profit made from the ponzi scheme 2 years before Madoff was arrested. The Wilpons have insisted they did not know the scheme was going on and it's never been proven they did.

Picard wants $303 million (down from the billion he originally wanted because the courts limited the timeframe to two years instead of six) they invested because he contends they were aware of warning signs that the scheme was happening. So, it comes down to whether he can prove to a court that the Mets investors acted in any malicious way to conspire and turn a profit. Barring a smoking gun somewhere, that seems impossible so the $300M # is almost certain to be denied.

The Mets lawyers tried to get the case thrown out today, they failed.

:cano:

 

[EmpireWF]

The witness list for both sides has been released for the trial which begins Monday with jury selection

Plaintiffs:

1. Bruce Dubinsky (expert)
2. Saul Katz
3. Arthur Friedman (via video deposition)
4. Cynthia Rongione
5. Lisa Collura (expert)
6. Matt Greenblatt (expert)
7. Leonard Labita
8. Maureen Hawa (via video deposition)
9. Mark Peskin
10. Joseph Reese
11 . Michael Katz
12. Steven Kenny
13. Kevin Barcelona
14. Peter Stamos (via video deposition)
15. Basil Stamos (via video deposition)
] 6. Kevin Dunleavy
17. David Katz
18. Noreen Harrington

Defense:

1. Fred Wilpon
2. Mark Peskin
3. Saul Katz
4. Arthur Friedman (via video deposition)
5. Peter Stamos
6. Ashok Chacnra
7. Steve Kenny
8. Charles Klein
9. Robert Rosenthal
10. Michael Dowling
11. Sandy Koufax
12. Robert Morgenthau

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/39968/witness-list-for-wilpon-trial

 

[EmpireWF]

Avoiding a trial that was set to begin today, the Wilpon's and Katz's agreed to a settlement that will see them pay $162 million.

They won't have to make a payment for 3 years.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...91210170314378.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

The real amount they pay back is said to be a fraction of that because they too are due back some money for being victim's of Madoff. Wilpon and Katz are not expected to pay more than $29 million each.

 

[Chrispy]

darrenrovell
Mets owners will pay Madoff trustee $162M but could recover as much as $178M as Madoff victims as part of settlement.

 

[Chrispy]

Source confirms NY Daily News report: #Mets have repaid $25M loan to #MLB, $40M loan to Bank of America and sold 12 minority shares.

 

[EmpireWF]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/40393/mets-morning-briefing-3-20-12

Reports the Mets sold 12 minority shares of the team last week, good for $240 million.

They then paid off the outstanding loans with MLB and Bank of America, a combined $65 million. Plus, they paid at least $100 million towards the teams $430 million debt.

The Mets have not refinanced their remaining loans, but have bought the team goodwill. Last year, team lender JPMorgan wrote a letter warning that the team had breached its debt covenants. The owners first must prove they can come close to hitting their budget after missing it badly the last two years, one source said. In 2011, the Mets lost roughly $70 million. After big payroll cuts in the off-season, the team could break even this year.

For now it looks like the Wilpon's and Katz's have secured their control over the franchise moving forward. The lawsuit settlement doesn't force them to pay back any money until 2016 or 2017. They still have a lot of loans (the SNY loan, the CitiField loan are the two big ones) and they have to manage to stop the bleeding. Last year they lost $70 million....they cut the payroll by roughly $50 million and with the infusion of money from the sale of minority shares...should be okay in 2012.

Fans who wanted them to sell are pissed off.