10th pro rata interim distribution checks in mail; totals approximately $464M.

TENTH PRO RATA INTERIM DISTRIBUTION OF RECOVERED FUNDS
TO MADOFF CLAIMS HOLDERS COMMENCES;
TOTALS APPROXIMATELY $464 MILLION

Aggregate Distributions Total More Than $12 Billion

 NEW YORK, NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, DC – February 22, 2019 – Irving H. Picard, Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS), announced that the tenth pro rata interim distribution from the Customer Fund to eligible BLMIS customers commenced today.

The SIPA Trustee is distributing approximately $464 million on a pro rata basis to BLMIS account holders with allowed claims. The tenth pro rata interim distribution, when combined with the prior nine distributions, will equal 66.633 percent of each customer’s allowed claim amount, unless that claim has been fully satisfied. The aggregate amount distributed to eligible BLMIS customers will total more than $12 billion, which includes approximately $845.16 million in advances committed by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). All allowed customer claims up to $1.49 million will be fully satisfied after the distribution.

“The Madoff Recovery Initiative continues to raise the bar and set new performance standards for similar efforts,” said SIPC President and CEO Stephen P. Harbeck. “With roughly two-thirds of many claim amounts satisfied, and a significant number of claims fully satisfied, the outstanding success of the Trustee and his legal team is exceptional. We look forward to further distributions.”

The tenth pro rata interim distribution was reached as a result of settlements and recoveries achieved by the SIPA Trustee, his Chief Counsel David J. Sheehan, and their legal teams since the last interim distribution in February 2018. Among the notable recoveries in 2018 are the $76.5 million payment to the BLMIS Customer Fund by Alpha Prime Fund Ltd. and the $281 million recovery from J. Ezra Merkin, Ascot Partners, L.P., Ascot Fund Limited and Gabriel Capital Corporation.

As of January 31, 2019 and since his appointment in December 2008, the SIPA Trustee has amassed nearly $13.4 billion as a result of recoveries and agreements to recover. These recoveries exceed similar efforts related to prior Ponzi scheme recoveries, in terms of dollar value and percentage of stolen funds recovered.

Ultimately, 100 percent of the SIPA Trustee’s recoveries will be allocated to the Customer Fund for distribution to BLMIS customers with allowed claims. None of the money recovered is used to pay administrative costs. All trustee, legal and accounting fees, as well as administrative expenses, are paid by SIPC.

More information on overall recoveries to date and the ongoing liquidation can be found on the SIPA Trustee’s website: www.madofftrustee.com.

Messrs. Harbeck, Picard and Sheehan would like to thank BakerHostetler attorneys Seanna Brown and Heather Wlodek, who worked on the tenth pro rata interim distribution and its related filings, as well as BakerHostetler, Windels Marx, and all of the attorneys and professionals whose work has led to the distribution. They would also like to thank Vineet Sehgal and his colleagues at AlixPartners, as well as Josephine Wang, Kevin Bell, Nathanael Kelley, and their colleagues at SIPC, for their ongoing work and participation in the Madoff Recovery Initiative distributions.