NEW YORK - A 97-year-old Boston-area apparel entrepreneur agreed Tuesday to forfeit $625 million to be distributed to cheated investors in jailed Bernard Madoff's historic Ponzi scheme, authorities revealed, as a court trustee said negotiations are under way to recover money as well from the owners of the New York Mets baseball team.

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The US government said in papers filed in federal court in Manhattan that Massachusetts businessman and philanthropist Carl Shapiro, one of the first investors in Madoff's investment business and a longtime Madoff friend, entered the forfeiture deal along with his partners.

The papers were filed to recover the money from the accounts of JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., where some of the Shapiro investments were held. The government said proceeds of the settlement with Shapiro would be distributed to Madoff investors. The papers said Shapiro held an account in his name with Madoff's investment business since 1961 and had controlled accounts for others from time to time. Madoff started his investment business in 1959.

That action proceeded as court-appointed trustee Irving Picard filed a complaint under seal in US Bankruptcy Court to recover money from Sterling Equities, along with its partners and family members. Picard said his office was "engaged in good-faith negotiations" with the Sterling defendants, who include the owners of the New York Mets baseball team.

In a statement of its own, Sterling agreed with Picard that the sealing of his lawsuit was necessary because the parties are negotiating a settlement.

It added: "Regardless of the outcome of these discussions, we want to emphasize that the New York Mets will have all the necessary financial and operational resources to fully compete and win. That is our commitment to our fans and to New York."

But recently hired Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, speaking at baseball's winter meetings, made it clear the Mets weren't going to be adding payroll for the upcoming season.

"There's been an understanding on my part from the very beginning that there was going to be somewhat less flexibility this year than probably would be the case in future years," Alderson said.

The trustee overseeing jailed financier Bernard Madoff's assets has labeled the New York Mets winners in the epic fraud.

A year ago, Picard said in a bankruptcy filing that the Mets made nearly $48 million in Madoff's scheme. He said the Mets Limited Partnership originally invested about $523 million, but eventually withdrew about $571 million from the accounts.

The Madoff trustee's latest actions come as a deadline approaches this weekend to file court papers before the revelation of the fraud reaches two years.

In recent weeks, Picard has filed dozens of actions in which he tries to recover profits made by some investors at the expense of others so the money can be redistributed to everyone. The recovery of such funds is known as a "clawback."