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Judge signs order to protect Madoff investors

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-16 10:02

NEW YORK - A federal judge has signed an order saying investors who may have been duped in one of Wall Street's biggest frauds need the protection of the Securities Investor Protection Act.

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Judge Louis Stanton also directed that proceedings to liquidate the assets of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC be moved to bankruptcy court.

The order was signed Monday afternoon after the Securities Investor Protection Corp. submitted papers asking for the protection for investors.

Stanton assigned Irvin Picard to preside as trustee over the liquidation.

The order came just days after federal prosecutors charged Madoff with securities fraud, saying he had admitted squandering nearly $50 billion from investors in a massive Ponzi scheme.