That’s how much of their estimated losses almost 41,000 victims of Bernie Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme have managed to claw back, thanks in part to a government fund which started reimbursing investors seven years ago. 

The latest $131 million payout, reported by the US Department of Justice, goes a long way in making that specific pool of victims (very nearly) whole again, and is the 10th and final payment of its kind. Per the DoJ:

“Through its 10 distributions, MVF [the Madoff Victim Fund] has paid over $4.3 billion from forfeited funds to 40,930 victims in 127 countries for losses they suffered from the collapse of BLMIS.”

However, the government’s Madoff Victim Fund represents just one part of the effort to compensate investors. For example, the Madoff Recovery Initiative, a separate entity overseen by court-appointed trustee Irving Picard, has paid out almost $14 billion in recoveries and settlements to Madoff’s victims since 2009. 

Interestingly, more than 50% ($2.2 billion) of the government’s fund and over 30% of the Madoff Recovery Initiative’s pot came from the same source: assets from the estate of Jeffry Picower, who was named in court papers as the single biggest beneficiary of the scam.

Bernie Madoff died in prison, aged 82, in April 2021.