Madoff’s burned investors to recoup €5.5bn

THE trustee recovering money for Bernard Madoff’s burned investors has reached a $7.2 billion (€5.5bn) settlement with the estate of a Florida philanthropist and businessman who had been the single-largest beneficiary of the fraud.

Court-appointed trustee Irving Picard planned an announcement late last night in Manhattan about the estate of Jeffry Picower, who drowned after suffering a heart attack in the swimming pool of his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion on October 25, 2009.

The amount of the settlement was not immediately made public, but the figure was provided by a person familiar with the civil case against the estate. The person was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.