Court Nixes Picard’s RICO Claims Against Four Defendants in $19.6B Kohn Suit

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Feb. 22 threw out Madoff trustee Irving Picard’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims against UniCredit S.p.A. and three other defendants that allegedly steered investor funds to Madoff (Picard v. Kohn, S.D.N.Y., 11-01181).

In granting the defendants’ motions to dismiss, Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that Picard, a partner at Baker Hostetler LLC in New York, did not have standing to pursue the RICO claims because he failed to establish proximate cause linking the defendants’ conduct to investors’ injuries.

The RICO counts against UniCredit, UniCredit Bank Austria ...