First Madoff suit filed in France against UBS

First Madoff suit filed in France against UBS
Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:37pm GMT
PARIS (Reuters) - The first lawsuit in France in connection with Bernard Madoff, the U.S. financier accused of committing a $50 billion fraud, was filed on Thursday.

A French woman filed a suit for "fraud and betrayal of trust" against Swiss bank UBS, her lawyer Jean Reinhart said.

The woman placed 540,000 euros ($709,800) with UBS in 2006 and the company invested the money in the LuxAlpha fund in Luxembourg.

The French prosecution service, which has been reviewing the legal ramifications of the Madoff case for several weeks, is expected to open a preliminary police enquiry soon.

Earlier on Thursday, a Luxembourg court ruled UBS must pay French financial firm Oddo 30 million euros ($39.4 million) following a dispute between the two in the wake of the alleged Madoff fraud.

Oddo sued UBS to recover the 30 million euros which Oddo indirectly invested with Madoff.

UBS was a custodian for the Luxembourg-based LuxAlpha fund in which Oddo held clients' shares. Some clients of UBS invested in Madoff-related products via the LuxAlpha fund.

(Reporting by Thierry Leveque, writing by Marcel Michelson; Editing by Sharon Lindores)

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