The Justice Department says its Madoff Victim Fund has "exceeded expectations" and is paying out $158.9 million to almost 25,000 scammed investors in its latest distribution of funds. On Monday—15 years to the day after Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme was exposed—the department said it has now recovered 91% of fraud losses and has paid out $4.22 billion to 40,843 victims, CNBC reports. "Among Madoff's many victims were not only wealthy and institutional investors, but charities and pension funds alike—some of which invested money with Madoff on behalf of individuals working paycheck-to-paycheck who were relying on their pension accounts for their retirements," US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
"I commend the career prosecutors of this office for today's distribution of over $158 million and for their relentless pursuit of justice for victims of Wall Street fraudsters, like Bernie Madoff," Williams said. Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri said the fund "has exceeded expectations in the level of recovery provided to victims of the fraud committed by Bernard Madoff, which devastated thousands of lives."
The Justice Department said that out of the money returned to investors, $2.2 billion came from the estate of late Madoff investor Jeffry Picower and another $1.7 billion came as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank. The rest came from "a civil forfeiture action against investor Carl Shapiro and his family, and from civil and criminal forfeiture actions against Madoff, Peter B. Madoff, and their co-conspirators," the DOJ said in a press release. Madoff was arrested in 2008 for scamming investors out of $64 billion, including fabricated investment gains, CBS News reports. (He died in a federal prison in 2021, 12 years into a 150-year sentence.)
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