US News

Madoff sons’ estates to forfeit $23M in ill-gotten gains

The estates of Bernie Madoff’s sons have agreed to fork over $23 million in ill-gotten gains from years of benefiting their dad’s Ponzi scheme, according to a joint announcement Tuesday by the court-appointed Madoff trustee and the Justice Department.

Mark Madoff, his widow Stephanie Mack, and Andrew Madoff have agreed to cough up the money as part of a deal hashed out with Irving Picard, the trustee responsible for recouping money for investors. Half the money will also go to the Madoff Victim Fund, which is run by the DOJ and has recovered $9 billion for victims.

The deal leaves Mark Madoff’s estate with $1.75 million and Andrew Madoff’s estate with $2 million, bankruptcy court documents show.

A Manhattan federal bankruptcy judge is scheduled to approve the deal at a hearing on July 26.

Both Madoff brothers died within a few years of their dad, who is serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison near Butner, NC, coming clean as the world’s biggest Ponzi schemer in December 2008.

His scheme, which is now estimated to have swindled close to $20 billion, lured the rich and famous, including owners of the New York Mets and actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.

Mark, who began working for his dad’s securities firm in 1986, hanged himself on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest. Andrew, who started working at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities in 1988, died of cancer in 2014.

Picard’s fund has recovered more than $11.5 billion and distributed more than $9 billion to Madoff’s victims, including money from Madoff’s brother Peter, his wife Ruth and his niece Shana, who was the company’s compliance director.

Picard sued the brothers, who have always claimed they were kept in the dark about their dad’s scheme, in 2009, most recently claiming they owed investors a massive $153 million.