NEW YORK -- The family that owns the New York Mets plans to make an initial payment of $16 million by Wednesday to return profits from Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. But a recent revision of the original court settlement defers another $45 million owed, which should give the Wilpon family more maneuverability to operate the team and its other businesses without being cash-strapped.
Under the original 2012 court settlement, the sides stipulated that the Wilpons lost $176.6 million in certain Madoff funds, while making $162 million from other funds.
The Mets owners originally agreed to make payments in 2016 and 2017 to return the $162 million profit -- with one major wrinkle:
Through lawsuits and other means, a court-appointed trustee has made significant progress in recovering money for the Ponzi scheme's victims.