Madoff court trustee sues HSBC

NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The court trustee in the Bernard Madoff fraud case has filed a $9 billion lawsuit against British bank HSBC to recoup losses for victims, court documents show.

Trustee Irving Picard also filed two other major lawsuits on behalf of victims in recent weeks in advance of the Dec. 11 deadline for filing claims,

The New York Times reported Monday.

Madoff's victims lost billions of dollars in the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history. Madoff was given a 150-year prison sentence. He filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 15, 2008.

The claim against HSBC, similar to other lawsuits, says the bank should have known or knew in advance that Madoff was running a fraudulent business, yet still funneled client funds to his firm.

HSBC described Madoff's performance as relying on a "magic formula" but still directed funds his way, the lawsuit says.

Court papers say the multibillion-dollar fraud "could not have been accomplished or perpetuated unless the HSBC defendants agreed to look the other way and to pretend that they were ensuring the existence of assets and trades when, in fact, they did no such thing."

Picard recently filed lawsuits against Swiss bank UBS and U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase.