In a similar lawsuit filed on Wednesday in U

He finished second at Watkins Glen and third at Sonoma, a race he could easily have won had he not had a blown engine move him from a third place start to the back of the field.But Ambrose has also started to show promise on ovals. Treasury Department, it is clear that SIPC's coffers will stretch only so far.Madoff was charged last month with an alleged $50 billion fraud, accused of running a vast scheme that took money from new investors to pay old investors. He has not yet formally responded to the accusations in court.For its part, SIPC says it will pay valid claims, though the maximum that can be paid to any individual is $500,000.Madoff clients are "petrified," said Brad Friedman, an attorney at law firm Milberg who represents or has been in contact with more than 100 investors who lost a combined $1.5 billion or more in the alleged swindle."There is a real concern on the part of the victims that SIPC is going to act like most insurance companies and do everything it can to frustrate and deny claims," he said.CLAIMS UNDER REVIEWSIPC, set up by Congress to help investors with accounts at failed brokerage firms, has said it must review an investor's paperwork before determining if he or she has a valid claim. It says it hopes to begin paying investors in a few months."That's when we hope that some of the simpler claims can be resolved," SIPC President Stephen Harbeck told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. The group is funded by broker-dealers who are its members.Many investors, though, are expected to be ineligible for the recoveries, because the group's provisions do not apply to people who invested indirectly through hedge funds or other vehicles that gave Madoff money to manage, lawyers say.Lawyers for the investors are busy pursuing possible recoveries from other sources, including lawsuits against hedge funds and other third parties that invested client funds with Madoff.SIPC has said it does not need to wait until there is a resolution of the criminal case against Madoff to begin paying claims.SIPC has mailed more than 8,000 claim forms to Madoff investors. They are asked to provide their most recent account statements, and proof of wire transfers or canceled checks showing deposits "from as far back as you have documentation."The form also asks for all information regarding any withdrawals or payments received from Madoff.Supplying such records could be nearly impossible for many longstanding clients, said Harry Susman, a partner at law firm Susman Godfrey LLP. "You've got people who were investing with Madoff for 20 years and didn't keep records," he said.OUT OF LUCKInvestors could potentially bring legal action against SIPC if they are not allowed access to its reserve fund, said Howard Elisofon, a lawyer at law firm Herrick Feinstein LLP."Invariably as claims are denied and people feel that they have a good-faith effort to go forward, there may well be a battle with SIPC," he said.Investor lawyers say SIPC also may deny payments to people who took out more money from Madoff funds over the years than what they initially invested.That means that even if an investor had millions of dollars in purported investment gains listed on his or her account statement before Madoff's arrest, a claim for recovery could be viewed as invalid.A 2004 ruling from the U.S.

Court of Appeals in a different case backed a SIPC argument that investors' claims should be valued only according to how much they initially invested, and not based on fictitious numbers in artificial account statements.Denying payouts to such investors on that basis "is a nice mathematical concept, but try telling that to a 69-year-old woman whose only money in the world is in her Madoff account," Friedman said.(Reporting by Martha Graybow, editing by Matthew Lewis). LONDON (Reuters) - Fraud-busters set about scrutinizing Bernard Madoff's UK business on Thursday, and European investors readied lawsuits, as U.S. prosecutors laid out new grounds for revoking the suspected fraudster's bail.Investor activist group Deminor said it would file a legal complaint against UBS, HSBC, Hyposwiss and others, saying they had neglected clients exposed to the alleged fraud, which could be as big as $50 billion.Wall Street financier Madoff is under house arrest in his luxury Manhattan apartment after his arrest last month, charged with running a huge investment scam. Banks have revealed tens of billions of dollars worth of damage from the scandal.Separately, company accounts and filings obtained by Reuters showed the 70 year old moved nearly $160 million of his own assets to his British-based firm in 2007, via the allotment of new shares in the UK unit.Britain's Serious Fraud Office said it had begun investigating Madoff's British operation after it was given an interim report by Grant Thornton, provisional liquidators of the unit in Mayfair, London's hedge fund hotspot.It was not immediately clear whether the UK watchdog's investigation was related to the money transfers.In New York, a search of Madoff's office desk revealed he had signed cheques totaling more than $173 million ready to be sent, U.S. Formal complaints with the Paris civil court are currently being drafted," Nicolas Lecoq Vallon, a senior partner at the law firm Lecoq Vallon, told Reuters.His firm represents some 20 clients who invested around 100 million euros ($135.6 million) in Madoff-related products.Lecoq Vallon said his action would focus on France, while action by other law firms are being planned in Luxembourg, Ireland and Switzerland.Meanwhile, Paris prosecutors are informally looking into the case but have not yet opened any formal probe, said Jean-Michel Aldebert, head of the financial section of the Paris Prosecutors' office.In December, French market regulator Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) said French mutual funds had incurred losses of about 500 million euros due to Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme.Swiss bank Union Bancaire Prive is threatening to pull several billion dollars of investments from large U.S. hedge funds because they do not use a full-time independent administrator, the Wall Street Journal said. There's no other way to put it, the Chicago Bears are a joke.

Especially when you are currently the least qualified coach to lead them in such a comeback."This is our season."Had he meant it in some sort of self-deprecating fashion, as opposed to some variation of a cliched rally cry, it would have been the mostpoignantstatement Smith has made in years. But as it stands, it just made the ear-splitting laughter that football nation is directing at our beloved Bears just a little more deafening.This is our season: Returning the opening kickoff of the second half to the Viking eight-yard-line, only to be pushed back 12 yards andsettling for a field goal.This is our season: Having the second recovery of an Adrian Peterson fumble overturned because the fingertip of Hunter Hillenmeyer grazed the ball while he was out of bounds, thus allowing for the drive to continue and end in aMinnesota field goal.This is our season: Four second half possessions, resulting in 12 plays, two net yards, and zero first downs.This is our season: Allowing five Viking players to catch five or more passes, all the while generating no significant pressure to speak of, and coming within 11 yards of allowing the most aerialyardage ever produced by the most prolific passer in the history of the NFL.This is our season: Jamar Williams making a big open field hit on Chester Taylor early in the fourth quarter to stop him two yards short of a first down and forcing Minnesota to settle for a field goal, then celebrating as if he were Mike Jones tackling Kevin Dyson at the one-inch-line in Super Bowl XXXIV.Throw yourself a party Jamar, it was great to see you force the Vikings into a field goal that made what could have been an insurmountable 34-10 deficit a moremanageable 30-10.One could easily argue Williams' celebration would have been fitting had he been able to make a similar play on Taylor's go-ahead 10-yard TD reception in the second quarter. Then again, "timely" and "meaningful" plays aren't really what the 2009 Chicago Bears are all about.If they were, Smith's little pre-halftime shpeal to Oliver may have created something bigger than just anothereye-rolling moment in what has become the most gruesomelydisappointing season I have ever endured in my 18 years as a Bears fan.The worst part of the course is knowing this type of display is likely to become the norm in Chicago. With no first day 2010 draft picks for a team that really needs to improve just about every position on the field, the playoffs truly seem to be light years away.When talking about Sunday's game on NFL Network, Chicago Media personality and former Bear receiver Tom Waddle quipped "This ball hasn't evenbeen kicked off yet, and I'm impassioned to say 'mommy make it stop!'" These are sentiments one can easily foresee many of in Bear nation making over the next few years.Even if the necessary coaching and front office changes are made, for the next few years the damage that has been done to this franchise, just three years removed from a Super Bowl appearance, is a long way from being repaired.Strap in everyone, because a great deal of the near future is gonna look a lot like the last six games, where winning is an afterthought and merecompetence is a welcome surprise.This is our season indeed.. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff had signed checks totaling more than $173 million in his office desk ready to be sent out before his arrest, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Thursday asking a judge to jail him.Prosecutors have said the checks were found by investigators searching Madoff's New York City office and that they showed the 70-year-old investment adviser wanted to move money to relatives and friends before his alleged fraud became known to authorities.The government's written brief did not say whose names were on the checks.One of Madoff's lawyers, Daniel Horwitz, declined to comment on the claim by prosecutors, who are asking a judge to revoke Madoff's $10 million bail and send him to jail.A clerk for Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis of U.S.

District Court in Manhattan said the judge would decide on the government's request on Friday or Monday.In a hearing on Monday and in court papers on Wednesday, prosecutors said Madoff and his wife had mailed more than $1 million worth of jewelry and watches to friends and family in late December in violation of a December 18 court order freezing his assets. They said he was trying to disperse his assets and that he was a flight risk.Prosecutors said Madoff's lawyers' brief to the court on Wednesday failed to mention part of the December 11 criminal complaint in which Madoff was quoted as saying he wanted to transfer $200 million to $300 million of his investors' remaining assets to selected family and friends."In fact, when the defendant's office desk was searched, investigators found approximately 100 signed checks totaling more than approximately $173 million, ready to be sent out," the government's brief on Thursday said, providing new information from the investigation.Madoff is under house arrest and 24-hour surveillance at his luxury Manhattan apartment after authorities said he confessed to running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme over many years. He is charged with securities fraud but has not appeared in court to answer the criminal complaint.A Ponzi scheme is one in which early investors are paid off with money from later investors.Madoff's mailing of jewelry and watches in late December "demonstrates a continuing intention to benefit those close to him to the detriment of victims," the government said in Thursday's court papers.Horwitz and his legal partner, Ira Sorkin, had argued to the court that the valuables were "sentimental personal items", and that Madoff did not realize that mailing them violated the court order.Lawyers for investors suing to recover losses welcomed the government's attempt to put Madoff behind bars."It should have been done from the first day," said Howard Kleinhendler, attorney for an investor who placed $10 million with Madoff's firm days before his December 11 arrest. "Madoff should not be able to communicate with anyone from his apartment in an unrestricted way."In a similar lawsuit filed on Wednesday in U.S.