Madoff Trustee Irving Picard filed 40 lawsuits on Friday - more than half against family members - in the seemingly endless quest to recover money for victims of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.  Twenty-two of the lawsuits were filed against relatives of Bernie and wife, Ruth;  18 were filed against former employees of Bernie & Co. (BLMIS). 

According to Mr. Picard, this round of suits is targeted at about $69 million in funds allegedly owed by relatives and employees "who were closest to the center of the fraud and who were, in many cases, among those who benefited most from the (pyramid) scheme." 

Among the complainants is Bernie's sister, Sondra Weiner, who's accused of having "profited for decades" from the scheme, Picard said.  A woman who answered the phone at Florida listing for Weiner hung up without commenting, in response to MSNBC's calls.  Picard filed the lawsuits after discussions with the defendants and their attorneys collapsed.  Other complaints were previously filed against relatives of Madoff and senior BLMIS employees. 

The fresh batch of lawsuits comes 3 days after Picard announced a lawsuit against Swiss bank UBS AG, alleging it funneled clients to Madoff and then "looked the other way."  The bank called the allegation "completely unfounded."  [MSNBC.com, 11/27]