The government fund to repay Bernard Madoff’s fraud victims is preparing to recommend approval of more than 25,000 claims covering almost $4 billion in losses, but the Justice Department didn’t say how much it would pay or when checks might go out, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Thousands of victims who lost $17.5 billion in principal have been trying to tap the $4 billion fund since it was set up three years ago, though no payments have been made. By comparison, the trustee unwinding Madoff’s fraud and repaying victims in bankruptcy court has paid out about $9 billion since Madoff’s arrest in December 2008. The two funds are administered separately under different U.S. laws. “I would love to see every eligible Madoff victim receive a cash recovery,” Richard Breeden, the administrator of the Justice Department fund, said in an update on his website. “However, we can’t complete the process and actually pay claims until we resolve the incomplete claims one way or the other.” Breeden said the fund is set to recommend denial of 7,540 claims covering about $25.7 billion in losses that don’t satisfy the requirements of the plan. There are also about 30,750 incomplete or deficient claims covering about $27 billion in losses from Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, he said. Read more.
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