Judge Tosses Part of Madoff Case Vs NY Mets Owners

A Manhattan federal judge Tuesday threw out part of a $1 billion lawsuit against owners of the New York Mets baseball team by the trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed all but two claims by the trustee Irving Picard against the Mets owners, including Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz and others at Sterling Equities.

One of the claims alleges actual fraud. The other would require the defendants' claims against the bankruptcy estate of Madoff's firm to be subordinated to those of others.

A spokeswoman for Picard said the trustee had no comment pending a ``thorough evaluation'' of the opinion. Lawyers for the Mets owners were not available for comment.

Mario Cuomo, the former New York governor mediating the dispute, also had no immediate comment. (Reporting by Grant McCool and Jonathan Stempel in New York. Editing by Robert MacMillan)