A concert pianist was just awarded damages for her contribution to the infamous Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme that landed the financier in prison with a 150 year sentence. The French musician, who remains unnamed, won the case due to a substantial error made by the investor's bank in advising the musician's assets.
The bank, Banque Internationale a Luxembourg SA, must pay out 250,000 euros (roughly $277,000) plus interest dating back to 2010. As it was finalized, the Luxembourg Court of Appeal ruled that the bank failed to alert the pianist to the extreme risk factor when investing in a venture such as Madoff's.
According to a report in Bloomberg Business, the court said:
"The bank can't hide behind the signature [of the unidentified woman] of a waiver that was pre-drafted in language that was technically correct and comprehensible to people with some knowledge in the economic and financial area, but inappropriate when it comes to a concert pianist."
The suit comes after a six-year standoff with the bank to recover the money lost in the scheme. Since the pianist is not attune to the same discrepencies as a normal investor would be, it was ruled that it was unjust for the French musician to engage in the investment without a clear warning.
This victory comes from a slow process that the European banks are trying to mobilize to fix. Since Madoff's indictment in 2009, European investors have been slow in recovering the lost assets to the venture.
Luckily, some of those affected are getting their due process.
Not familiar with Bernie Madoff? Here's a little taste of his exorbitant scam below, in the form of credits from The Other Guys movie.
