Bernie Madoff Ponzi Victims in Line for Another $247M in Restitution
Image by Getty Images
Nearly 7-1/2 years after Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was unmasked, the court-appointed trustee recouping money for the swindler’s victims on Thursday sought court approval to free up another $247 million to help cover their losses.
The proposed payout would be the seventh by the trustee Irving Picard, and follows several recent settlements to recoup sums from other firms that once did business with Madoff.
Once the distribution is made, eligible recipients will have recouped about $9.45 billion, Picard said.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein is expected to review the payout at a June 15 hearing in Manhattan.
Picard noted that the proposed distribution would be the smallest so far, but in a statement said: “It is vital to move expeditiously to return stolen Madoff funds to the rightful owners. The victims have waited years for restitution.”
Madoff’s fraud was uncovered in December 2008. Now 78, Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud in March 2009 and is serving a 150-year prison term.
About $171 million of the latest payout would go to 972 former customers of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC immediately, while about $76 million would be held back pending the outcome of other litigation.
Individual distributions would range from about $137 to about $28.7 million, the trustee said.
This would result in full payments on 1,289 of the 2,597 Madoff accounts with valid claims, including everyone owed $1.2 million or less, the trustee said.
Picard has recovered or reached agreements to recover roughly $11.13 billion, more than three-fifths of the $17.5 billion of principal he has said Madoff customers lost.
The sums administered by Picard are separate from a $4 billion U.S. Department of Justice fund overseen by former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Richard Breeden.
Last week, Breeden said he expects to recommend payouts to at least 25,280 claimants, including people who invested with Madoff through third parties. Breeden expects to submit formal recommendations by the end of August.—Reuters
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
