Recently, the court-appointed trustee responsible for recouping money for the victims of the alleged Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme requested court approval for an additional $247 million to be paid to investors.
This would be the seventh payout requested by the trustee Irving Picard. If approved, the eligible recipients will have recouped a total of roughly $9.45 billion.
The proposed payout is expected to be reviewed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein on June 15 in Manhattan.
If Judge Bernstein approves the payout, roughly $171 million will be immediately distributed to 972 former Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC customers. The remaining $76 million would be reserved pending future litigation outcomes. The trustee announced that individual distributions could range from $137 all the way up to $28.7 million. As a result, 1,289 of the 2,597 accounts under Madoff would be paid in full.
The trustee has helped to recover $11.13 billion of the $17.5 billion that Madoff’s customers allegedly lost. These are separate from the $4 billion fund with the United States Department of Justice overseen by Richard Breeden, the former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman. Breeden expects to recommend payouts to settle roughly 25,280 claims.
Irving Picard made the following statement,
It is vital to move expeditiously to return stolen Madoff funds to the rightful owners. The victims have waited years for restitution.
It’s been seven and a half years since the alleged fraud was discovered and Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges. He is serving a prison sentence of 150 years.
