Madoff trustee seeks wide authority: New York Times

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of accused fraudster Bernard Madoff has asked a court for unusually broad authority to subpoena witnesses and documents, The New York Times reported.

Citing the scale of the alleged $50 billion fraud, trustee Irving Picard said he needed the authority to issue expedited subpoenas to investigate the allegations, the newspaper said in an article dated on Saturday, and posted on its website late on Friday.

"The debtor's operations were allegedly a massive fraudulent enterprise," the newspaper quoted Picard as saying in his request, which The Times said was filed on Wednesday.

Madoff is accused of running a fraud that ensnared investors and charities around the world. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been criticized for failing to uncover the scandal until Madoff's sons went to authorities and told them he confessed to the fraud.

As a case study for regulatory reform of financial markets, U.S. lawmakers are to take their first look on Monday at Madoff's alleged fraud and why the SEC failed to discover the scandal.

The Times said Picard's request for broad authority was far from routine and illustrated how much his responsibilities had expanded beyond a trustee's traditional tasks of identifying assets and selling them to satisfy claims.

(Writing by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Peter Cooney)