Another US$158 million is being returned to victims of Bernie Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has begun the ninth distribution from the Madoff Victim Fund, returning money forfeited to the U.S. government in connection with the record-setting fraud scheme involving Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.
Almost 25,000 investors will receive payments in the latest distribution, which has now paid out over US$4.2 billion to almost 41,000 victims who suffered losses in the collapse of Madoff’s firm.
The recovery fund is overseen by a former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Richard Breeden.
In 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felonies, “admitting that he had turned his wealth management business into the world’s largest Ponzi scheme, benefitting himself, his family, and select members of his inner circle,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.
As a result, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison, and prosecutors managed to secure the return of over US$4 billion from criminal forfeiture actions against Madoff and his family, civil forfeiture deals with a couple of major Madoff investors, and a deferred prosecution agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank.
“The department’s Madoff Victim Fund has exceeded expectations in the level of recovery provided to victims of the fraud committed by Bernard Madoff, which devastated thousands of lives,” said Nicole Argentieri, acting assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice, in a release.
“To date, the Madoff Victim Fund has assisted more than 40,800 individual victims in recovering over 90% of victim losses. The department continues to prioritize the use of civil asset forfeiture to ensure compensation is available for victims of fraud,” she added.