Weasel of the Week: Irving Picard

Picard is a legal trustee entrusted with recouping monies lost by victims of convicted financier/con artist Bernard Madoff. However, he made headlines this past week when someone on his legal team leaked contents of a sealed document that alleged that the owners of the New York Mets had actually profited from Madoff's illegal dealings, and weren't so much the victims they've claimed to be.

Predictably, Fred & Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz fired back, dismissing the claims as baseless, painting a picture of Picard as another greedy ambulance chaser, as he is seeking $300 million from the Mets, who now are looking for a minority partner to help run the team.

Talk about kicking someone when they're down. The Mets seem to have been cursed, given the rash of injuries that have short-circuited their efforts the last two years in their new ballpark, Citi Field. To them, Picard is piling on. Picard is claiming the Wilpons & Katz knew about Madoff's dealings. They say, no way. How could they, when Madoff fleeced them as well? All Picard is doing, the Wilpons argue, is going after the biggest fish out there, and that's them.

To Picard, I say, if you can't prove anything, then back off, apologize, and at the very least offer to help rather than hinder the Wilpons' efforts to reorganize. As another famous Picard often said, "Make it so!". Until then, you're just another weasel.