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Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims Rewarded $4 Billion
The Madoff Victim Fund, established by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has distributed an additional $372 million to victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. This brings the total amount distributed to over $4 billion, with 40,000 victims worldwide receiving compensation.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the eighth distribution, which will bring the total recovery from all sources of compensation to 88.35% of their losses. The Madoff Victim Fund will ultimately return to victims more than $4 billion in assets recovered as compensation for losses suffered by the collapse of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS), following the largest fraud in history, announced by this Office in 2013.
The funds will be sent to 40,000 victims worldwide, with another $5 billion in assets recovered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office being separately paid to Madoff victims through the BLMIS Customer Fund administered by the Securities Investor Protection Act Trustee.
Madoff, a former Chairman of BLMIS, used his position to steal billions from his clients since the early 1970s. On March 12, 2009, Madoff pled guilty to 11 federal felonies, admitting that he had turned his wealth management business into the world’s largest Ponzi scheme, benefiting himself, his family, and select members of his inner circle.
On June 29, 2009, United States District Judge Denny Chin sentenced Madoff to 150 years in prison for running the largest fraudulent scheme in history. Judge Chin ordered Madoff to forfeit $170,799,000,000 as part of Madoff’s sentence.
The Madoff Victim Fund is funded through recoveries by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in various criminal and civil forfeiture actions and is overseen by Richard Breeden, the former Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, in his capacity as Special Master appointed by the Department of Justice to assist in connection with the victim remission proceedings.
Of the approximately $4.05 billion that will be made available to victims through the Madoff Victim Fund, approximately $2.2 billion was collected as part of the civil forfeiture recovery from the estate of deceased Madoff investor Jeffry Picower. An additional $1.7 billion was collected as part of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. for Madoff-related Bank Secrecy Act violations.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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