Another $158 million has been paid to victims of global fraudster Bernie Madoff, the feds announced Monday — bringing the total to $4.22 billion.
A compensation fund to repay victims of Madoff – who died in 2021 while serving a 150-year prison sentence – has begun distributing its ninth installment to 24,875 people worldwide, according to the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office.
The Madoff Victims Fund was set up a decade ago after the kingpin of fraud – who became one of the world’s most hated figures when his $65 billion Ponzi scheme was exposed – was implicated in his crimes.
Including the new payments, the fund will distribute a total of $4.22 billion to 40,843 victims, spanning 127 countries and 49 US states — helping them recover 91% of their losses, the feds said.
The fund’s special master Richard C. Breeden praised the progress made in rehabilitating victims again and said the fund aims to make the final payment by the end of 2024, according to an update report released this month.
Another $158 million has been paid to people defrauded by Bernie Madoff, bringing the total to $4.22 billion, the feds announced. Getty Images
“When we started, no one knew how many Madoff victims there were, where they were, or how much they lost,” Breeden said. “Now, in our tenth anniversary year, we have finally passed the 90% payment milestone.”
“Today’s announcement is the realization of our dream of what we can do to help so many people whose lives have been shattered,” said the special master. “On [Madoff Victim Fund]we have traced the contours of the fraud, counted the stolen cash and then put it back directly into the hands of the person from whom it was stolen.”
The compensation money came not only from the funds that Madoff had to cough up on his sentence, but also from his partners.
Madoff died in prison in 2021 serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to 11 financial crimes. Getty Images
Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 financial crimes in 2009 and was sentenced that year.
He died in federal custody in North Carolina on April 14, 2021, at the age of 82.
Madoff’s massive stock fraud ripped off not only investors but also his friends and family through the shady wealth management company he started in 1960.
The compensation fund – which has been running for almost a decade – has started making its ninth installment to the victims. Chad Rachman/NYPost
He made a failed bid for compassionate release in the summer of 2020 on the grounds that he only had months to live due to kidney disease.
About 500 victims at the time wrote to the judge saying that Madoff should die behind bars.
“The financial toll on those who entrusted their money with Madoff has been devastating, and this Office’s unprecedented efforts to return money to Madoff’s victims has now resulted in 91% of fraudulent losses going to their rightful owners,” said Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams in a statement on Monday.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
