Florida philanthropist fires back at Madoff trustee

NEW YORK -- A Florida philanthropist has asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit brought by the trustee in the Bernard Madoff scandal, claiming it falsely accuses him of knowingly cashing in on the disgraced financier's fraud.

The trustee — appointed to seek the return of funds to thousands of clients burned by the epic Ponzi scheme — sued Jeffry Picower and his Picower Foundation in Manhattan federal bankruptcy court in May.

The suit claims Picower should give back $5.1 billion he earned by investing with Madoff because he should have known it came out of victims' pockets.

In a court papers filed Friday, Picower's attorneys argued that trustee Irving Picard's "villainous portrayal of Mr. Picower is unsupported by the facts."

Picower insists he was shocked by Madoff's arrest on Dec. 11.