Trustee: Madoff hasn't bought stock for clients in 13 years

Trustee: Madoff hasn't bought stock for clients in 13 years

The trustee appointed by the court to monitor the liquidation of Bernard Madoff’s investment firm told customers Friday that the financier, who is accused of running a Ponzi scheme, likely did not purchase any securities for his clients in the last 13 years, the Associated Press reports.

“We have no evidence to indicate securities were purchased for customer accounts,” the trustee, Irving H. Picard, told a gathering of Madoff’s clients and other creditors.

Picard, the AP reports, said he has so far recovered only about $650 million.

David Sheehan, a lawyer working for Picard, called Madoff's investments "a Ponzi scheme where no stock was purchased."

"There wasn't any stock bought or sold," Sheehan said. "It was all just made up...You got somebody else's money."

Madoff, 70, was arrested in December and is confined to his Manhattan apartment under house arrest.

(Photo by Stuart Ramson, AP)