The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the tenth and final distribution from the Madoff Victim Fund (MVF), providing over $131.4 million to victims of Bernard L. Madoff's Ponzi scheme. This brings total recoveries to 93.71% for more than 23,000 victims worldwide, most of whom were small investors with losses under $500,000.
Edward Y. Kim, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, emphasized the commitment to justice: “This Office has never stopped pursuing justice for victims of history’s largest Ponzi scheme...we have succeeded in compensating 40,930 victims with close to 94% of their losses.”
Brent S. Wible, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, highlighted the role of forfeiture in victim compensation: “The unprecedented scope and complexity of the Madoff remission process shows the power of forfeiture to recover assets and to compensate victims.”
James E. Dennehy, FBI Assistant Director in Charge, remarked on the conclusion of this compensation effort: “Today’s distribution represents an unprecedented conclusion...with more than $4 billion repaid to over 40,000 victims.”
Bernard L. Madoff's fraud was exposed when he pleaded guilty on March 12, 2009, admitting his wealth management business was a massive Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced on June 29, 2009, by Judge Denny Chin to serve 150 years in prison.
The MVF has distributed over $4.3 billion across ten distributions since its inception, reaching victims in 127 countries. Significant funds were recovered from Jeffry Picower's estate ($2.2 billion) and JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.'s deferred prosecution agreement ($1.7 billion), among others.
Richard Breeden oversees the MVF as Special Master appointed by the Department of Justice. His team evaluated over 66,000 remission petitions involving billions in cash flows.
The case is managed by the Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit with Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara M. La Morte leading the prosecution efforts.
For more information about MVF compensation processes and eligibility criteria, visit www.madoffvictimfund.com or contact them at info@madoffvictimfund.com.