Victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme can expect to soon receive about $1.42 billion to help cover their losses, after two U.S. judges yesterday authorized the payouts, Reuters reported. In the first payout, customers who invested directly with Madoff will receive about $1.18 billion from Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Separately, former customers of J. Ezra Merkin, a New York money manager who funneled their money to Madoff through his Ariel and Gabriel Capital "feeder funds," will receive nearly $236 million, court papers show. The payouts were approved less than a month before the seventh anniversary of Madoff's fraud being uncovered in December 2008. In a statement, Picard said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein yesterday authorized him to release $1.5 billion from reserves. Read more.
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