The Irish arm of HSBC is being sued for more than half a billion dollars arising from the massive Ponzi scheme run by jailed US fraudster Bernard Madoff.

A HIGH Court judge has permitted the Irish arm of European banking giant HBSC to refrain from specifying — at this stage — the capacity in which hundreds of millions of investment monies were passed on by it to companies controlled by US fraudster Bernard Madoff.

AN Irish investment firm is seeking the return of €31.6 million given to a company which was to be passed on for investment with international securities fraudster Bernard Madoff, the Commercial Court heard yesterday.