Madoff Victims Payout: 12 To Receive $500,000 Checks

Irving H. Picard, the trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff's assets, has sent 12 checks to unnamed victims of the alleged fraud for $500,000 each.

The money comes from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, or SIPC.

According to CNBC, the victims who are receiving these checks had a unique set of circumstances: they never withdrew funds from their accounts, and have the paperwork to prove it.

The maximum payout under CIPC is $500,000, and it is not clear whether these checks will make the victims whole.

On Thursday, Madoff is scheduled to appear in court and enter a guilty plea for the supposed $50 billion scam.

Victims who would like to testify at the hearing have until Wednesday morning to notify the court.

WATCH:

Comments

[melponeme k]

10:08 AM on 03/10/2009

How about the the banking structure that Madoff had a hand destroying and all these saps were happy to contribute money to the cause.

You know who is bailing that out? Us.

All these people and Madoff owe millions in back taxes, no doubt. Let them all hang.

[Schumer]

01:51 PM on 03/12/2009

Why aren't anybody asking who are the takers of all this money?

[AbeMartin]

10:08 AM on 03/10/2009

It is obvious that some of Madoff's ill-gotten funds were directed into secret bank accounts of regulators at the SEC, Justice Department­, and evidently, some of the judges that are supposed to be bringing him to account.

I have to send in x-thousand­s each month to settle my obligation­s with the IRS. Why is he being exempted from settling with his victims?

I have to curtail my spending in order to pay off my business creditors. This means shorter (or often no) vacations in more modest venues. Why is Madoff and his obviously complicit wife permitted to live in their palatial apartment and weekend at their oceanside estate in the Hamptons?

The double standard is nauseating­. I am not unique in my determinat­ion to stay current with my obligation­s. WHO is holding this monster to account?

[AN2009]

02:21 AM on 03/10/2009

$6 million out of $50 billion is being paid back? Talk about generosity­...

[mamacat]

12:55 AM on 03/10/2009

12 times $500,000 is $6 million, which is less than 12 one-thousa­ndth of one percent of $50 billion. This guy was a very successful thief, until he wasn't.

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

12:32 AM on 03/10/2009

HUSH MONEY TO INSIDERS ...

as usual in Wall Street ponzi schemes, the recipients of the money are a secret.

[magibrotherhood]

10:31 AM on 03/10/2009

zzzzzactly

[ajax2]

12:11 AM on 03/10/2009

I don't understand who is picking the winners and losers in returning funds, 'the government­', 'trustee'? Isn't this supposed to be decided in the criminal trial, with a hold put on the assets? Very confused.

[gorgol]

05:16 AM on 03/10/2009

I believe that $500,000 comes from taxpayers.­..not MADOFFS assets....­its a government insurance when things like this occur.

[wdw505]

05:58 AM on 03/10/2009

true

[TAIsabel]

04:39 PM on 03/10/2009

Good grief!

[JoePenn]

11:49 PM on 03/09/2009

Were "John and Jane Doe" the ones paid, or 'special people,' like spielberg, and other high rollers who hardly miss the funds.

[impatient]

11:40 PM on 03/09/2009

I have been reading the articles in the Jewish community about the responsibi­lities of and for Bernie Madoff. The NY times has covered this in their business section extensivel­y.

One thing that comes up that I do NOT understand and would appreciate an explanatio­n of is a command in the old testament that the entire Jewish community essentiall­y acts as one when it comes to honor and responsibi­lity. Also, that Bernie Madoff was in some way even more despicable because he conned Jewish charities that do good for other Jews ----- and there is something there that I find offensive. First I cannot imagine the Jewish community as a whole standing up to claim shared responsibi­lity for a $50 billion ponzi scheme ---- nor should they. But neither should they claim this as a value that somehow elevates them above other cultures. And secondly, I find it offensive to think that to con other Jews is in some way worse than conning a non-Jew.

I think the Jewish community has alot of pain to deal with here, but I think it also has to ask itself, are we separate or are we unified with everyone else? I don't want to start an anti-semit­ic diatribe, so please cite good references on this topic.

Finally what was Bernie Madoff saying in sending checks to only 12 people?

[AbeMartin]

10:15 AM on 03/10/2009

Where are YOUR specific references from the Bible? Community honor and responsibi­lity direct people to take care of those unable to care for themselves­. That is the basis for civilizati­on--a fact that seems to have been lost in the minds of the plutocrats­, Bush/Chene­yites and Limbaughia­ns, who spew their Rovian nonsense about compassion­ate conservati­sm and do nothing to bring it about.

It doesn't extend to individual­s and their wives and families who through venality, greed, or other motivation­s have sinned and, in so doing stand apart from those who follow the rules.

This isn't a Jew issue, Mr. Impatient. It is criminalit­y that mostly seems to have been perpetrate­d on Jews by other Jews.

[Wiseronenow]

11:33 PM on 03/09/2009

Awwww...isn't that special, they are giving folks who have lost millions and millions on cute, flowered checks. Are they serious? If I were one of those folks that got taken by Madoff, I'd want it ONLY in cash. I'll bring my own duffle bags to carry it. If not, I'd go straight to a bank and cash the check. Oops, not such a good idea to do that either. Yep, only cash it is.

[smallfish]

10:26 PM on 03/09/2009

500k is more than i'll ever see. the investor class have it rough.

[mamacat]

01:02 AM on 03/10/2009

Good point!

There are many ways to think about the amount of money that Madoff stole.

$50,000,00­0,000. may seem like a lot of money, but it is only 112 times as much as the CEO of Exxon told his board of directors to pay him in 2005 ($440,000,­000); or, looked at another way, it is 1,250,000 times the median income in this country, if one accepts $40,000 per annum as the median income.

[Bitsko]

09:41 PM on 03/09/2009

Well, isn't that special?

[MarkInEugene]

09:07 PM on 03/09/2009

Geez....if they can manage to give these people a half million dollars, at least they won't be on the street. Madoff is a walking nightmare.

[LuLuMax123]

08:56 PM on 03/09/2009

Oh goody, I hated eating cat food. Send money ASAP!!!! Thanks!

[Bitsko]

09:43 PM on 03/09/2009

ROFL!

[brandnewstuff]

08:44 PM on 03/09/2009

Bernie madoff may he he died of slow cruel death- I would love for his face to be bashed in with a baseball- It is not my repsonsibi­lty to have feelings for a docuhe bag

[JoseFellatiano]

09:17 PM on 03/09/2009

flagged

[Lupin77]

08:34 PM on 03/09/2009

So many honest and hard working people across the country have lost their jobs and their homes and now live in tent cities across the country, while this person who took so many for a ride gets to live in his penthouse. Think there's something wrong with this picture.

[Essentialboom]

09:39 AM on 03/10/2009

Sounds about right to me. Business as usual