U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff ruled yesterday that Mets Owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz would be "required to prove at their trial that they were not willfully blind to 'red flags' that Bernard L. Madoff was engaged in illegal activity," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. The Mets owners are being sued by Irving Picard, the trustee for Madoff’s victims, for more than $300M. In his order, Rakoff wrote the burden of proof, by a preponderance of evidence, rests with the Mets owners to show that they acted in good faith in their dealings with Madoff. Wilpon and Katz will "have to show that they saw no evidence that Madoff might have been committing a fraud" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/15). In N.Y., Michael O'Keeffe notes the trial is "scheduled to begin on Monday." Attorney Stuart Slotnick said Rakoff's order puts Wilpon and Katz in a "bad position." Slotnick: "It’s something they will need to get around. They will have to meet that burden. The plaintiff will tell the jury that they had a duty to meet that burden and they failed" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/15).
