Lawsuit blames NY Mets owners for letting workers put retirement money in Madoff investments

Suit blames Mets owners for Madoff-related losses

NEW YORK — A new lawsuit blames the owners of the New York Mets for letting workers put more than $16 million in 401(k) assets into accounts controlled by jailed financier Bernard Madoff.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan on Friday. It was brought by the wife of a former employee of Sterling Equities Associates, which owns the Mets.

The lawsuit claims that Sterling Equities and several of its top executives should have known that Madoff was carrying out a massive Ponzi scheme that cost thousands of investors billions of dollars.

A message left with a spokesman for Sterling was not immediately returned.

The court-appointed trustee who is recovering Madoff money for investors has said the Mets profited from their investments with Madoff.