Madoff Victim Fund Makes Final Payout 15 Years After Ponzi Scheme Collapsed

The Justice Department says the Madoff Victim Fund has started its final distribution to victims of the huge Ponzi scheme carried out by Bernie Madoff.

The 10th distribution of more than $131.4 million will deliver money to 23,000 victims of the fraud case.

More than 40,000 victims will have recovered 93.71% of their fraud losses, according to the feds.

Most of these victims were small investors who lost less than $500,000 in the fraud. The fund has paid over $4.3 billion from forfeited funds.

"This office has never stopped at pursuing justice for victims of history's largest Ponzi scheme," said Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim for the Southern District of New York.

Madoff had carried out the scheme for decades, stealing billions from his clients.

He pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies on March 12, 2009 and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. He died behind bars in 2021.

"These victims implicitly trusted Madoff with their investments only to ultimately lose significant monies to his selfish plan," James E. Dennehy of the FBI New York Field Office. "With the Justice Department's steadfast support, the FBI will continue its tireless seizure of assets from criminals who steal from others and seek to recover those assets for victim losses."

Of the over $4 billion that has been made available to victims, approximately $2.2 billion was collected as part of the historic 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. and civilly forfeited in a parallel action.

The remaining funds were collected through a civil forfeiture action against investor Carl Shapiro and his family and from civil and criminal forfeiture actions against Bernard L. Madoff, Peter B. Madoff, and their co-conspirators.

While most of the victims have had most of their original investments returned, they lost what they believed they had made in profits over the years after the investments were discovered to be bogus.