The deadline for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme seeking to claim compensation from a $4 billion federal recovery fund has been extended by two months.

The deadline for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme seeking to claim compensation from a $4 billion federal recovery fund has been extended by two months.

Richard Breeden, the special master overseeing the Madoff Victim Fund on behalf of the US Department of Justice, and US Attorney Preet Bharara in New York, on Friday extended the claims deadline from February 28 to April 30.

Breeden said that many victims had only recently learned of the compensation fund and that the pace of claims had "accelerated dramatically" as a result of banks and custodians notifying potentially eligible clients.

The Madoff Victim Fund is open to customers that invested with Madoff indirectly through financial feeder funds, investment groups and other pooled investment vehicles. It runs alongside a separate US Congress bankruptcy program which has only allowed a minority of victims to claim compensation.

The victim claim fund has so far received more than 9,000 claims from individuals in 75 countries.

Madoff was arrested on December 11, 2008, and charged with securities fraud, investment advisor fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, false statements, perjury, false filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and theft from an employee benefit plan. After pleading guilty to all 11 counts he was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

"Madoff's appetite for cash was voracious, and thousands of investment products or funds were used to raise money. The cash of investors flowed into Madoff Securities through investment partnerships, funds of hedge funds, trusts, UCITS, insurance and annuity programs and many other types of financial products. In addition, investor money was often routed through multiple entities before reaching Madoff Securities," Breeden said in a statement released earlier this year.

Madoff’s $20 billion Ponzi scheme ran for decades and inflicted immense financial harm and personal anguish on victims around the world, with a large majority of victims having gone five years without a significant recovery.