Madoff fund paid out millions in fees

US$38M TO BREEDEN

ERIK LARSON NEW YORK • A firm hired by the U.S. to distribute US$4 billion to victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme has racked up US$38.8 million in billings over four years. The investors are still waiting for their first checks, though.

The Justice Department disclosed its payments to Richard Breeden, the Madoff Victim Fund administrator, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Bloomberg News. Breeden’s fees, which are being paid from cash in the fund, cover his work through 2016.

The delay highlights how 8 1/2 years after Madoff’s arrest investors are still scrambling to recover money from a U.S. fund that was announced with great fanfare. Victims have recovered billions of dollars from another fund, but they have yet to be made whole.