The trustee has also sued dozens of individual customers who withdrew more money from their accounts than they deposited, to repay net losers. Madoff’s lifelong friend Edward Blumenfeld, a New York real estate developer who built a fortune by investing with the con man for decades, agreed to a settlement worth $62 million to end the lawsuit against him -- a deal approved by the court Nov. 18.
The trustee has said his goal is to return 100 percent or more of the $17.5 billion in lost principal.
Former Employees
A federal jury in Manhattan in March found five former Madoff employees guilty of aiding his fraud for decades by creating fake trading documents and account statements.
They were accused of targeting thousands of retirees, wealthy investors, charities and even family and friends, and getting rich in the process. The five ex-workers are scheduled to be sentenced next month.
Madoff, 76, pleaded guilty to fraud in 2009 and is serving a 150-year sentence at a
federal prison in North Carolina. At least seven other people have pleaded guilty to roles in the scheme, including his brother Peter Madoff, who is serving a 10- year term.