Madoff Fraud Claims Swell

Thousands more victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme could receive compensation for their losses based on the preliminary findings of a new claims process administered by the Justice Department. Richard C. Breeden, the “special master” in charge of the Justice Department effort, said the large number of claims suggests the fraud was even bigger than previously known. The early findings contrast with the results of a yearslong recovery process led by bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard, which took a more narrow view of who qualifies as a victim of the fraud. The differing approaches of the two trustees, who oversee separate pots of money, highlight the complex nature of the Madoff recovery, which remains in process more than five years after the Ponzi scheme was discovered. More in the Wall Street Journal here.