Victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme are set to begin receiving $2.4 billion, the largest payout to date in the 3 1/2-year-old liquidation, reported Law360 on August 22 (“Madoff Victims OK'd To Receive $2.4B Payout”).
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton R. Lifland approved the distribution, which Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC liquidating SIPA Trustee Irving H. Picard proposed July 26, over objections by several customers on the amount of a so-called holdback in connection with potential time-based damages litigation, the article noted.
After a prehearing conference among the parties proved unsuccessful, Judge Lifland sided with Picard, noting that to do otherwise would be to deprive victims who have already waited this long of approximately $1 billion, said Law360.
The article also named BakerHostetler Partner David J. Sheehan, lead counsel to the SIPA Trustee for the global representation for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, as well as Partner Jorian L. Rose and Associate Seanna R. Brown.