Business

Breeden: Madoff plan ‘weeks’ away

Richard Breeden is finally coming clean.

The man responsible for distributing $2.3 billion of recovered Bernie Madoff loot to investors burned by the Ponzi king said a plan on how and when the cash will flow could be ready “in a matter of several weeks.”

Breeden, in a letter to Madoff investors, also said he didn’t understand how anyone could not understand his plans as the Justice Dept.’s special master on the Madoff case.

The 63-year-old former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in the letter, sought to counter a report in The Post on Tuesday that he was dragging his feet and wasn’t clear on his plans for doling out the $2.3 billion.

But instead, the letter only served to prove the point of the story.

Breeden attempted to chide The Post, saying, “While final signoffs still have to occur, we expect that [distribution] plan decisions will be made in a matter of several weeks or less.”

That is great news for Madoff victims.

In a September update on his website, however, Breeden was much less forthcoming.

“It would be simpler if we could give a date when the claims process will begin … We can’t do that,” he wrote.

The Justice Department’s Madoff-case pay czar also said in the letter that any thought of paying Madoff fund net winners is “strange.”

But in the September update, Breeden said, “before claims can be processed, there are other questions that must be answered, including appropriately defining (with particularity) eligibility…”

Three calls to Breeden for comment over five days prior to the story were not returned.

Better late then never — Breeden has finally moved to give Madoff victims a clearer picture of when they might get some of their missing investment cash back.

The Post reported that some Madoff victims were growing frustrated with Breeden, who was retained in December to dole out the cash.

“It’s a giant leap forward from the prior update,” one holder of Madoff claims said of the special master’s latest missive.

Breeden’s $2.3 billion is separate from the $9.4 billion collected by Irving Picard, the trustee for the bankrupt Madoff firm. The bulk of the money under Breeden’s control comes from the $7.2 billion settlement with the widow of Jeffry Picower, a large beneficiary of Madoff’s scheme.