U.S. Attorney Damian Williams | U.S. Department of Justice
The Justice Department has initiated the final distribution of funds to victims of the Bernard L. Madoff Ponzi scheme. The Madoff Victim Fund (MVF) is disbursing over $131.4 million in this tenth round, concluding a decade-long effort to compensate those affected by the fraud.
This latest distribution will reach more than 23,000 victims globally, bringing the total number of compensated individuals to over 40,000. These victims have now recovered approximately 93.71% of their losses from the collapse of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS). The MVF has distributed more than $4.3 billion across ten rounds to victims in 127 countries.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible stated, “The unprecedented scope and complexity of the Madoff remission process shows the power of forfeiture to recover assets and to compensate victims — a primary goal of the department’s Asset Forfeiture Program.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim for the Southern District of New York remarked on this milestone: “With this 10th and final distribution, we have succeeded in compensating 40,930 victims with close to 94% of their losses.”
James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge at the FBI New York Field Office, noted that this marks an "unprecedented conclusion" for victim compensation efforts related to civil forfeiture actions tied to Madoff's scheme.
Bernard L. Madoff orchestrated what became known as history's largest Ponzi scheme through his position as chairman at BLMIS since its founding in 1960 until his arrest and guilty plea in March 2009 for multiple federal felonies.
The recovery process involved significant civil forfeitures including $2.2 billion from Jeffry Picower's estate and $1.7 billion from JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., among others.
Richard Breeden, former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, serves as Special Master overseeing MVF operations which evaluated over 66,000 remission petitions.
For further details on eligibility or other inquiries about MVF compensation processes, interested parties can visit www.madoffvictimfund.com or contact them directly via phone or email.
Returning assets remains a core objective under the department’s Asset Forfeiture Program which has returned over $12 billion since its inception in 2000.
