Mass. sues to get Madoff associate to testify

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts' top securities regulator on Wednesday sued a prominent business associate and friend of alleged financial swindler Bernard Madoff to force the man to testify one day after he missed a key meeting.

William Galvin, Massachusetts' Secretary of State, said he filed a complaint in Massachusetts Superior court to force Robert Jaffe, who funneled billions of investment dollars to Madoff, to provide testimony to regulators.

Galvin issued a subpoena to Jaffe in December so regulators might find out more about how Madoff, who has been charged with having masterminded the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history, operated. Jaffe failed to show up at Tuesday's scheduled meeting, however, because he was under a doctor's care, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Andre Grenon)