Judge refuses to dismiss Madoff-NY Mets case Mon Mar 5, 2012 11:58am EST (Reuters) - A federal judge rejected a bid by owners of the New York Mets Major League Baseball team to end a $386 million lawsuit brought by the trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff's fraud, but expressed skepticism that the trustee can prevail on all claims. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York agreed that the trustee, Irving Picard, should be able to recover fictitious profits that Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz got in the two years prior to the bankruptcy of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, where they were longtime investors. Picard has estimated that this sum was $83.3 million, but Rakoff said the amount needs to be determined. The judge nonetheless said he remained "skeptical" that the trustee could show the Mets owners acted in bad faith in their dealings with Madoff, although it would be an issue for a jury to decide. "Conclusions are no substitute for facts, and too much of what the parties characterized as bombshells proved to be nothing but bombast," Rakoff wrote in Monday's ruling. "The principal issue remaining for trial is whether the defendants acted in good faith when they invested in (Madoff's firm) in the two years prior to bankruptcy or whether, by contrast, they willfully blinded themselves to Madoff's Ponzi scheme," he added. A spokeswoman for Picard did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. Karen Wagner, a lawyer for the Mets owners, did not immediately return a call seeking a comment. A trial is scheduled to begin March 19. The case is Picard v. Katz, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. Reporting By Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Mark Porter and Maureen Bavdek