Bernard (Bernie) Madoff’s two dead sons estates will hand over $23 million to victims of his Ponzi scheme, Bloomberg reports.
The agreement with the U.S. government is resolving an eight-year legal battle.
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Under the deal, the estates will transfer all cash, business entities, and business interests to funds set up for victims.
The family of Mark Madoff who committed suicide in 2010, will leave with $1.75 million after the settlement is approved. Mark hanged himself in his New York apartment on December 11, 2010, the second anniversary of his father’s arrest on Dec. 11, 2008.
His younger brother, Andrew, died of cancer four years later in 2014. His family will leave with $2 million, the trustee said Monday in a court filing in Manhattan.
The estates will also withdraw their claims in the Madoff firm’s bankruptcy case, which total nearly $100 million, according to the statement.
Their estates sued by the company’s court-appointed bankruptcy trustee, who accused the men of profiting from their father’s fraud for years and squandering more than $150 million of client money on their lavish lifestyles.
Thousands of Madoff’s victims lost $17.5 billion in principal when the fraud collapsed. So far, he’s recovered more than $11.5 billion, by suing banks and offshore funds that funneled cash into the scam.
A criminal investigation led to a 150-year prison sentence for Bernard Madoff and a 10-year term for his brother Peter. Both men pleaded guilty. Bernard Madoff’s sons never accused of a crime. A civil suit against their mother, Ruth Madoff, is pending.
