Lawsuit Demands Koch Industries Return Profits From Madoff Ponzi Scheme Investments

The trustee charged with liquidating the firm of convicted Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff has filed a lawsuit against a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc. — the massive energy, oil, chemical, fertilizer, and finance conglomerate owned by Charles and David Koch. Though the suit alleges no wrongdoing on the part of the subsidiary, it seeks the return of $21.5 million on the grounds that it was not legitimately an investment return, the Wall Street Journal reports.

A Koch spokeswoman disputed the demand, arguing, “The Koch entity involved made an investment in an entirely separate fund. That Koch entity no longer exists and its investment was redeemed in 2005, long before anyone knew of Madoff’s fraud.”

Even the Rupert Murdoch-owned WSJ noted the amusing irony in their lead:

Koch Industries Inc., whose billionaire owners are funding an ad campaign (via an advocacy group they support) criticizing the Obama administration’s support of bankrupt solar company Solyndra LLC, faces a call to give back money received from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Even if the Kochs lose this case though, $21.5 million would hardly make a dent in the billionaires’ empire or, one imagines, their extensive giving to right-wing Republican causes.