Madoff Victims' Trustee Disputes Report Of Meeting

NEW YORK (AP) - The trustee seeking to recover money for victims of Bernard Madoff's vast Ponzi scheme disputes a report in which the disgraced financier claims the two met.

David J. Sheehan, chief counsel for court-appointed trustee Irving H. Picard, said in a statement Wednesday that Picard never met with Madoff. Sheehan says "there has been no direct communication between them."

Madoff spoke to The New York Times for a report published in Wednesday's newspaper. It was based on Madoff's first interviews since his 2008 arrest.

Madoff told the Times he gave Picard's team information that would be helpful in recovering assets. He says he met with the team for four days last summer, though the report doesn't specify whether that included Picard.

Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence in North Carolina.