It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it: Irving Picard, the trustee in charge of liquidating Bernie Madoff’s assets is asking a New York court if he can distribute another $1.5 billion to $2.4 billion to victims of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. He says he’s probably recovered around $9.1 billion but thus far, has only been able to hand out $1.1 billion of that.

Picard is in charge of trying to get as much money as possible for victims of Madoff’s fraudulent investments, and it has been quite the uphill task, notes the Associated Press. Since the scheme fell apart over three years ago, victims have been filing lawsuits and making complaints as to how the trustee has distributed the money.

Picard calls the requests for more distribution of funds “another major milestone in the worldwide Madoff recovery effort.”

So why has more money suddenly become available for distribution? Last month the Supreme Court declined to hear objections of victims who said they should be able to get back more than what they had lost, whereas Picard had argued they should only receive enough money to cover their losses.

Picard calls that decision “great news” for investors waiting to get their money back.

Then there was a settlement with the estate of a businessman who’d made money from Madoff’s fund — an extra $5 billion that ended up in the victims’ fund, sweetening the pot nicely.

There’s still a long way to go, including complaints from victims who think Picard needs to factor inflation and interest in when determining the value of their investments. He disagrees, and his chief counsel said in a statement that more money could be released to victims if they would drop such objections.

Previously in Madoff news: A Bunch Of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme Victims Will Get $405 Million In Settlement 

Madoff trustee wants victims to get more money [Associated Press]

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