The widow of deceased philanthropist Jeffry Picower has announced an agreement with the Madoff Trustee to return 7.2 billion dollars to the bankruptcy estate, which, according to the press release, represents "every penny received from almost 35 years of investing with Bernard Madoff."
In a press release through her attorneys, Ms. Picower expressed confidence that her husband, who was an extremely successful investor, was not involved in the fraud. She said that his investment prowress allows her to make the payment, which exceeds the estate's legal liability (presumably on a claw back claim), and "return to the philanthropic work that was so important to Jeffry and me."
With estimated cash losses of approximately 20 billion dollars, this 7 billion, together with the 2.3 billion the Trustee has recovered should translate into repayment of half of the investors out of pocket losses. Of course, that does nothing to address the billions in profits reflected on those investors fraudulent brokerage statements.
