Justice Department to distribute $504M to Bernie Madoff victims

The Madoff Victim Fund will distribute $504 million in funds to victims of Bernie Madoff, the Justice Department said Thursday.

It is the second distribution of funds, bringing to the total amount dispersed to Madoff’s victims to $1.2 billion. In total, the distributions are expected to return more than $4 billion to victims as compensation they suffered when Madoff’s investment firm collapsed.

Of the $4 billion that will be made available to victims, about $2.2 billion was collected as part of the historic civil forfeiture from decreased Madoff investor Jeffrey Picower.

The funds will be sent to more than 21,000 victims who were caught up in Madoff’s $65 billion investment scam, the Justice Department said. More than 65,000 victims in 136 countries are entitled to the funds.

“In one of the most notorious and unconscionable financial crimes in history, Bernie Madoff robbed tens of thousands of individuals, pension plans, charitable organizations and others, all the while funding a lavish personal lifestyle,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Through the use of asset forfeiture, the Department of Justice has recovered over $4 billion of Mr. Madoff’s fraud, and we continue to work to compensate those he defrauded.”

Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to 11 federal felonies, admitting to running the world’s largest Ponzi scheme to benefit himself. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison and ordered to forfeit nearly $171 billion.