Ascot Partners might have recklessly concentrated its investment assets with Bernie Madoff.

This is a securities fraud class action lawsuit against Ascot Partners, its general partner Ezra Merkin, and its auditors BDO Seidman. The class consists of limited partners in Ascot Partners.

This case arises from a massive fraudulent scheme perpetrated by Bernard L. Madoff through his investment firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC ('BMIS"). Ascot Partners invested 1.8 billion dollars with Madoff , nearly the entire investment capital of the partnership. On December 10, 2008, Madoff informed certain senior employees at BMIS that his investment advisory business was a fraud. Madoff stated that he was 'finished,' that he had 'absolutely nothing,' that ' it's all just one big lie,' and that it was 'basically, a giant Ponzi scheme.' Madoff communicated to the senior employees that hehad for years been paying returns to certain investors out of the principal received from other, different, investors. Madoff stated that the business was insolvent, and that it had been for years. Madoff also stated that he estimated the losses from this fraud to be approximately $50 billion.

On December 11, 2008, the SEC charged Madoff and BMIS, with securities fraud for a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme that Madoff and others perpetrated on advisory clients of BMIS. One of those clients was Ascot Partners, which, unknown to plaintiff and other class members , had entrusted virtually all of its investment capital --- capital provided by plaintiff and the class through their purchase of limited partnership interests in Ascot Partners to Madoff. Ascot Partners, simply put, should have known much better.