NEW YORK—The U.S. government said it has begun distributing $772.5 million from a $4.05 billion fund to compensate victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, ending a nearly nine-year wait for thousands of people to start recouping their losses.
A total of 24,631 checks from the Madoff Victim Fund are being mailed to individuals, government entities, schools, charities, and pension and retirement plans in 49 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and 119 other countries.
