Next Madoff payouts planned

NEW YORK (MCT) – Billions of dollars could go out as early as September to victims of Bernard Madoff under a plan outlined Thursday by the trustee handling the search for assets in the giant Ponzi scheme.

In papers filed in federal bankruptcy court, trustee Irving Picard asked for approval of another distribution of recovered funds, ranging from $1.5 billion to $2.4 billion. The cash could mean that the 1,229 Madoff clients whose claims were allowed under federal law could recover as much as 20.5 cents to 33.5 cents on the dollar for their losses in the collapse of his business in December 2008.

The average payment could range from $1.2 million to $2 million, with 100 to 181 customers being paid in full, the trustee said.

Picard said the request to begin the distribution, which could start in about two months, was “another major milestone in the worldwide Madoff recovery effort.” He said that more distributions are coming.

Investors lost about $17.5 billion in the fraud.