NEW YORK — Bernie Madoff’s investors were mailed checks totaling about $2.5 billion, almost four years after the Ponzi scheme operator was arrested.
Traders said anticipation of the payment, which many investors see as the last for a while, has spurred sales of Madoff claims.
Irving Picard, who is liquidating the con man’s firm, said checks for the second distribution from a customer fund were mailed Wednesday to people with approved claims. He has previously paid investors $336 million from the fund, now standing at $7.3 billion, according to his website. The Securities Investor Protection Corp., which hired Picard and pays his fees, compensated investors for $803 million in losses after the Madoff brokerage collapsed.
“While this progress is extremely gratifying, we will not cease our work” of returning money to its rightful owners, Picard said. The three payments satisfy half of the current Madoff accounts whose claims he has allowed, he said. The average check mailed Wednesday was for about $2 million.
