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 U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein in Manhattan authorized a
deposition of Madoff at a March 23 hearing, and Monday's filing
proposed a formal order that it be scheduled. A hearing on that
request is scheduled for Wednesday.
Questions would be limited to the meaning of more than 91,000
transactions recorded as "profit withdrawal" on the books of the
former Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, court papers
showed.
Some former customers believe that Irving Picard, the
court-appointed trustee liquidating Madoff's firm, has undervalued
their claims.
They have argued that only Madoff would know how to properly account
for profit withdrawals, and that what he might say could strengthen
their hand in litigation.
 Many of these customers have challenged Picard's methods in court,
and also pursued litigation targeting alleged "enablers" who aided
Madoff's Ponzi scheme, including lawsuits that seek billions of
dollars from the estate of Florida investor Jeffry Picower.
Picard, who has recouped about $11.1 billion for Madoff's victims
over the last seven years, has argued that the competing litigation
interferes with his own, and opposed letting Madoff be questioned.
Picower's widow also opposed a deposition.
But while expressing concern that a deposition "will not be limited"
to the profit withdrawal issue, Bernstein said "the information is
certainly relevant," according to a transcript of the March 23
hearing.
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Helen Chaitman, a lawyer for former Madoff customers who sought the
deposition, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Picard also
declined to comment.
Any deposition transcript would remain confidential for at least 60
days. Madoff, 77, would be deposed at the North Carolina prison
where he is serving a 150-year sentence.
The case is Securities Investor Protection Corp v. Bernard L. Madoff
Investment Securities LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District
of New York, No. 08-01789.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Fiona Ortiz)
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