WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) trustee assigned to the Madoff Securities fraud victims will ask the federal bankruptcy court in New York next month for an additional $35.8 million distribution.
The Department of Justice’s Madoff Victims Fund on Dec. 30, 2024, made its 10th and final distribution to victims of the Ponzi scheme, bringing its total distribution to more than $4.3 billion.
On Jan. 29 SIPA trustee Irving Picard will ask the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to approve a 16th distribution in February 2025, of more than $35.8 million to Madoff customers. If approved, the distribution will bring total recoveries by the SIPA Trustee through litigation and settlements to more than $14.5 billion since the discovery of the fraud in December 2008.
“We are confident that even more recoveries remain in the SIPA proceeding for BLMIS customers,” said Josephine Wang, president and CEO of Securities Investor Protection Corp.
With the support of SIPC, the trustee continues to recover and return funds lost by customers in the liquidation proceedings of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.
“The successful efforts of the MVF under the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Program are another positive outcome for victims of Bernard Madoff,” Wang said. “While the DOJ has maximized the recoveries through forfeiture, our work at SIPC is not over. Thanks to the dedication of the trustee, Irving Picard, and his legal team at Baker & Hostetler, in cooperation with SIPC’s legal team, the recovery of funds for the benefit of Madoff customers continues.”
Created by Congress, SIPC was established as a nonprofit under the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970. It was tasked with creating and administering a fund that would be used to restore investors’ missing assets in the event of a brokerage firm failure.
The special master of the Madoff Victim Fund announced Tuesday, Dec. 31 the final distribution of money to victims of the $20 billion criminal fraud perpetrated by Madoff Securities.
“On behalf of the Madoff Victim Fund and the U.S. Department of Justice, I am delighted to announce that MVF has initiated our 10th distribution to victims of the criminal fraud at Madoff Securities,” said Richard Breeden, principal of RCB Fund Services and special master of the $4.3 billion Madoff Victim Fund.
In total, there were 40,930 victims, many of who included retirees and their retirement funds. One such victim was the Town of Fairfield, which was defrauded of nearly $3 million from the decades-long Ponzi scheme operated by the late Bernie Madoff, who died in 2021.
