The trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff's bankrupt brokerage won court approval to make a second customer payment that may reach $2.4 billion, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland granted Irving Picard's request to hold back less money from a fund created to compensate investors for Ponzi scheme losses. Some customers have demanded 9 percent interest on their money. Judge Lifland's ruling that Picard can reserve just 3 percent for interest means the payment to customers may be $1 billion larger than if he had to hold back the bigger amount, Picard has calculated.
