Fairfield Sentry Fails Before The Privy Council

Until his arrest and subsequent imprisonment Bernard Madoff operated what is thought to have been the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. Redemptions were funded by incoming investments. Those fortunate enough to withdraw their money in good time lost nothing; indeed, many exited with substantial returns. But as all Ponzi schemes ultimately do, the scheme came crashing down.

Fairfield Sentry ("the Fund") was a BVI feeder fund, having 95% of its assets invested with Bernard L Madoff Securities (Madoff). Following Madoff's arrest, the Fund suspended redemptions. It was placed into liquidation in the British Virgin Islands on 21 July 2009.

Amongst the investors in the Fund were a large number of institutional investors holding positions in the Fund as intermediaries for their own customers. The Fund alleged that the Net Asset Value at which those investors, amongst others, had redeemed was based upon a mistake: that being a mistaken reliance upon statements made by