After months of being criticized for the apparent snail-like pace of his recovery of Bernie Madoff assets, Irving Picard now finds himself in an improbable statistical place — he has actually recovered more money ($9.8 billion) than there are in approved claims ($5.8 billion).
The $7.2 billion settlement with the estate of Jeffry Picower yesterday made the financial feat a reality.
But, alas, the victims shouldn’t get too excited.
Experts say additional victims’ claims are being held up by an obscure bankruptcy rule that requires transfers made from Madoff accounts within 90 days of the fraud’s collapse be paid back before other losses can become approved.
Once those 90-day withdrawals are returned, the trustee could approve at least another $12 billion in claims, people familiar with the matter told The Post. There are $21.2 billion in estimated principal losses in the massive Ponzi scheme.
Although with $54 billion still being sought, several victims’ lawyers wonder if Picard is on his way to recovering more than the $21.2 billion investors lost.
“It’s very confusing to everybody, even Congress,” said Ron Stein, president of the Network for Investor Action and Protection, which has been helping Madoff victims.
So confusing, in fact, that several victims’ lawyers held a conference call earlier this month to discuss what Picard might do if he did, in fact, recover more than 100 percent of the monies lost. No one knew.
Helen Chaitman, a Madoff victim who also represents victims, said she’s worried excess funds will line the pockets of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, the agency responsible for unwinding Madoff’s failed brokerage. “I’m sure SIPC will come up with a clever way to keep that money so Wall Street will never have to pay SIPC insurance again,” she quipped. kwhitehouse@nypost.com