Southern District Judge Paul Engelmayer (See Profile) has dismissed for the second time a lawsuit filed by Israeli charity Keren Matana against a fund controlled by J. Ezra Merkin that lost all of its money in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, rejecting the charity’s attempt to replead claims he dismissed in August (NYLJ, Aug. 8).
Keren Matana sued Merkin and his fund Gabriel Capital in March. The charity had invested $1.5 million in Ascot Fund Limited, an offshore investment fund managed by Merkin and Gabriel Capital. When Madoff’s scheme was exposed in 2008, it was revealed that Merkin’s funds were merely “feeder funds” that invested all of their clients’ money with Madoff. Keren Matana’s investment was wiped out.
