Hartford - The state Appellate Court ruled Wednesday that the town of Fairfield may not make claims for millions of dollars in losses to its pension fund due to disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's fraud scheme.

The state's second-highest court ruled 3-0 that a Stamford Superior Court judge decided correctly in April 2010 that Fairfield was not directly affected by the actions of two partners in an investment firm accused of conspiring with Madoff.

The lawyer representing Fairfield, Richard Robinson, told the court May 19 that the two partners, Walter M. Noel Jr. and Jeffrey H. Tucker, conspired with Madoff. As a result, he said, they should be included among those responsible for a $42 million loss in Fairfield's pension fund.

The pension fund provides benefits to 1,500 town employees. The affluent town, which sits on the Long Island Sound about an hour and a half from New York and has appeared on Money magazine's list of best places to live, has about 60,000 residents.

- Associated Press