The estates of convicted fraudster Bernie Madoff’s deceased sons have agreed to return more than US$23 million to U.S. authorities working to recover funds for Madoff’s victims.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Tuesday that the assets have been recovered from the estates of Andrew and Mark Madoff, and from Mark Madoff’s widow, Stephanie Mack, “representing funds transferred to them by Bernard Madoff.”
The assets will be liquidated and distributed to victims, either through the Madoff Victim Fund, which was established by the U.S. Department of Justice or through the BLMIS Customer Fund, which is administered by the SIPA Trustee, Irving Picard.
“Today’s agreement, one of the final pieces in the government’s eight-year effort to provide justice for Madoff’s victims, demonstrates our commitment not only to holding wrongdoers accountable, but also compensating victims of criminal fraud,” says acting Manhattan U.S. attorney, Joon Kim, in statement.
“Today’s announcement is the culmination of years of ongoing investigations by our legal teams and our negotiations with the Madoff family,” adds Picard in a statement, noting that agreements have been reached to recover more than US$11.5 billion and distributed more than US$9 billion to Madoff’s victims.