The
SIPA trustee for the liquidation of Bernard Madoff’s firm has released a
summary of customer claims which stand as of 7 September, 2012.

According to the summary, 99.99 per cent of claims have now been
determined - a total of 16,518. Of these, 2,443 (14.7 per cent) have
been allowed and 16.63 per cent (2,703) have been denied. A further
66.45 per cent of claims, relating to third parties, have been denied.

The figures highlight the extent of the losses incurred by individuals and institutions from the biggest Ponzi scheme fraud in US history. 

Just under 1 per cent (153) of claims have been withdrawn, while for
12 cases (0.07 per cent) no claim has been determined. Allowed claims so
far total $7.5 billion, with two cases remaining to be determined (0.01
per cent). Meanwhile, 229 cases (1.48 per cent) are in litigation.

At the beginning of August, the SIPA trustee sought approval for fees
of $48.1 million for the period October 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012.
For the roughly four-month period, the application is seeking approval
for fees covering 134,431 hours of legal, professional and
paraprofessional services, charged at $357.86 per hour.

At the same time, it emerged that the trustee was also trying to
prevent the New York Attorney General from settling with a former Madoff
investor, saying it would reduce the pool of assets left to customers
of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities. The matter related to the
Merkin funds, which invested in Madoff’s company, and against which the
trustee has a proceeding trying to recover over $500 million.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has now accused the
trustee of trying to intimidate the state’s top law enforcers by trying
to overturn the $410 million settlement, Bloomberg reported last week.