Fox Business wins argument to force release of Madoff documents

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Fox Business Network has won a legal victory to force the release of documents related to New York University’s lawsuit against Bernard Madoff feeder Ezra Merkin.

The New York Supreme Court’s ruling forces parties in the case to release all the depositions in the case, which had been filed under seal. It also prevents the automatic sealing of documents in the case in the future.

The parties have 10 to14 days to unseal the documents or show cause why they should remain under seal. The judge, RIchard Lowe, said that argument faces an “uphill battle.”

Madoff pleaded guilty on Thursday to 11 felony counts for orchestrating a multidecade Ponzi scheme on the order of $50 billion. He’s likely to spend the rest of his life in jail.

Ezra Merkin, who until recently was the nonexecutive chairman of GMAC and has been a longtime fixture in the Jewish charity scene, funneled money to Madoff.

Merkin, his Gabriel Capital LP fund and Ariel Fund Ltd. are named in the lawsuit.