NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bernard Madoff's investment firm had assets in Canada, and the trustee liquidating the imprisoned Ponzi schemer's business is looking to hire a Montreal law firm to recover them.

In a filing late on Monday with Manhattan bankruptcy court, lawyers for the trustee, Irving Picard, asked for permission to hire Kugler Kandestin LLP as special counsel to represent him in Canadian proceedings. "The trustee has become aware of assets that he believes to be customer property located in Canada and requires counsel to pursue such customer property," the filing said. It is unclear from the filing what the assets are and of what value.

Gordon Levine, a partner at Kugler Kandestin, in the filing said the firm would provide advice on locating funds and file lawsuits to recover assets from third parties.

A hearing to approve the hiring is scheduled for January 20. The Securities Investor Protection Corp, an agency that helps recover assets from failed brokerages, hired Picard to recover assets for victims of what investigators have called Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.