An Irish-based hedge firm has joined the long roster of clients trying to get their money back from the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.

Investors in Thema International have filed a lawsuit in New York looking to recover about $3 billion which they lost in Madoff’s fraud.

The lawsuit is just the latest in a long line of legal actions filed by angry Madoff victims desperate to recoup billions of dollars of lost funds.

The lawsuit also names British bank HSBC and big accounting firms Ernst Young and PriceWaterhouse Coopers as co-defendants with Madoff.

Thema’s legal teams claim that HSBC failed to do due diligence while Ernst and Young and PWC were included for their alleged expert opinion and their alleged role in auditing some of the funds.

Madoff is in jail in New York where he awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to 11 counts of fraud.

His wife Ruth remains free but is under investigation by US authorities. A New York judge last week signed an order to freeze the assets of Madoff’s brother Peter, who is also under scrutiny in the $65 billion fraud case.