Madoff Victims Have $2.48B on the Way

1,230 people getting checks averaging $2M

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 20, 2012 11:21 AM CDT

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Madoff Victims Have $2.48B on the Way — In this Dec. 17, 2008 file photo, Bernard Madoff returns to his Manhattan apartment after making a court appearance in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)

The check is indeed in the mail for Madoff victims: Following a judge's approval, some 1,230 victims of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme will soon receive money totaling $2.48 billion. Mailed yesterday, the checks average about $2 million each, and range between $1,784 and $526.9 million. That brings the total investors have recouped so far to $3.63 billion, Yahoo News reports. The case's trustee, Irving Picard, has now recovered some $9.15 billion, more than half of the lost $17 billion; he's also holding money in reserve amid individual victims' litigation. (Read more Bernard Madoff stories.)