Irving Picard, the Securities Investor Protection Act trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities last week filed a motion in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, according to a statement from the Madoff Recovery Initiative.

Irving Picard, the Securities Investor Protection Act trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities, last week filed a motion in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York seeking approval for an allocation of recoveries to the BLMIS Customer Fund and an authorization for a fourth pro rata interim distribution - worth $349 million - from the Customer Fund to BLMIS customers with allowed claims.

According to a statement from the Madoff Recovery Initiative, the fourth pro rata interim distribution will bring the amount distributed to eligible claimants to almost $6 billion, including $811.7 million in advances committed to the SIPA trustee for distribution to allowed claimants by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

“Our commitment is simple: to recover the maximum amount of funds stolen in the Madoff Ponzi scheme and to distribute these funds to their rightful owners as quickly as possible,” said Picard. “Our legal team remains focused on overcoming the remaining challenges that delay additional, even larger, distributions, and bringing more money into the Customer Fund.”

On February 5, 2014, the Bankruptcy Court approved a $325 million settlement between the SIPA Trustee and JP Morgan Chase & Co. Funds from this settlement and other recoveries that have been released from reserves comprise the bulk of the funds to be distributed to customers with allowed claims.

The fourth distribution will be paid on claims relating to 1,080 BLMIS accounts, to record holders of allowed claims as of April 17, 2014. Thus far the SIPA trustee has allowed 2,517 claims related to 2,189 BLMIS accounts. Of these, 1,129 accounts will be fully satisfied following the fourth interim distribution, with all allowed claims totaling $925,000 or less fully satisfied.

As of March 14, 2014, the SIPA trustee has recovered or reached agreements to recover some $9.795 billion since his appointment in December 2008. Ultimately, 100 per cent of the SIPA trustee’s recoveries will be allocated to the Customer Fund for distribution to BLMIS customers with allowed claims, the statement said.

A hearing on the fourth allocation and distribution motion has been set for April 17, 2014.