A $1 billion settlement between the liquidator of Bernard Madoff’s brokerage and Tremont Group Holdings Inc. survived an investor challenge, helping to free up money for other investors in the Ponzi scheme. Court challenges had been tying up the majority of the $9 billion that trustee Irving Picard has raised mostly through settlements. This week, a lawyer said his client, Adele Fox, wouldn’t continue to challenge the Jeffry Picower estate’s forfeiture of $5 billion to Madoff’s estate and more than $2 billion to the U.S., and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal over Picard’s payment formula, freeing up a $2.3 billion customer fund. More in Bloomberg Businessweek here.
