The Investors Who Had To Pay Back Billions In Ill-Gotten Gains From Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme

Infamous fraudster Bernie Madoff died in federal prison on Wednesday at age 82. His massive Ponzi scheme defrauded investors of an estimated $17.5 billion, racking up huge losses for banks, pension funds and individuals who invested in his Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

Not everyone simply lost money, however. A number of early investors and financial firms cashed out of Madoff’s funds over the years before the house of cards collapsed—allowing them to walk away with billions of dollars that Madoff claimed were their investment profits, but which were actually just newer investors’ deposits.

Since the bottom fell out of Madoff’s scheme in 2008, trustees have been scouring the globe to find and return money to the victims of the great swindle. So far Irving Picard, an attorney who is overseeing the liquidation of Madoff’s…