U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said yesterday that thousands of victims of Bernard Madoff's fraud, including many who have so far recovered nothing, may start pursuing an additional $2.35 billion to cover some of their losses, Reuters reported yesterday. The sum represents money obtained by federal prosecutors through criminal and civil forfeiture actions since Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme was uncovered in December 2008. It is being held in a Madoff Victim Fund and overseen by special master Richard Breeden, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman. Breeden's fund is separate from money recovered by Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee who is liquidating the bankrupt Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Picard has said that he has distributed more than $5.4 billion of the $9.5 billion he has recovered so far. Breeden's fund is different because, under criteria approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, people who lost money by investing indirectly in Madoff through "feeder funds," investment groups and other pooled vehicles will for the first time be eligible to recover, Bharara said.
