UPDATE 1-US seeks $625 mln from JPMorgan in Madoff case

NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors sought forfeiture on Tuesday of $625 million from accounts at JPMorgan Chase traceable to the fraud of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff, according to court papers.

The office of the Manhattan U.S. attorney said the money was paid to Madoff associate Carl Shapiro and certain other people and entities. The filing in U.S. District Court in New York said the government 'intends to request that the funds be distributed to victims of the fraud.'

Last week in a separate civil action, the court-appointed trustee liquidating the Madoff firm sued JP Morgan for $6.5 billion as part of his efforts to recover money for defrauded customers.

Madoff, 72, is serving a 150-year prison term after pleading guilty in March 2009 to a decades-long multibillion-dollar fraud that swindled thousands of investors worldwide.

(Reporting by Grant McCool, editing by Matthew Lewis) Keywords: MADOFF JPMORGAN/USA ([e-mail]; + 1 212-393-9461; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.