Merrill Lynch was incidentally linked to Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme by sanctioning the notorious fraudster to trade using feeder funds issued by Merrill Lynch (Touryalai, 2011, p.1). The trustee who sought retaliation for Madoff's victims was named Irving Picard; said Merrill Lynch was well aware of the possibility of fraud within Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. However, Merrill decided not to pay attention to any of the transactions, even though another firm had disproved potential clients who had previously invested with Madoff. Merrill Lynch had to repay $16 million after the lawsuit ended