Financial Crime Weekly: $4.3 Billion Paid To Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims, Do Kwon Pleads Not Guilty

Do Kwon Pleads Not Guilty In U.S. Courtroom 

According to a Reuters report, Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, the incubator of TerraUSD USTC/USD and Luna LUNC/USD pleaded not guilty on Thursday to criminal fraud charges in a U.S. court. 

Kwon was handed over to U.S. law enforcement officers on Tuesday at an airport in Montenegro and extradited to the United States to face the charges.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Kwon with securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering conspiracy related to the collapse of Luna and TerraUSD in 2022, which resulted in an estimated $40 billion loss.

Read more here: Terra Luna’s Do Kwon To Face Criminal Fraud Charges In US

DOJ Announces $4.3 Billion In Total Distributions To Madoff Ponzi Scheme Victims

The Justice Department announced on Monday that the Madoff Victim Fund began its tenth and final distribution of over $131.4 million to victims of the Bernard Madoff fraud scheme. 

The DOJ said the latest payments will be sent to more than 23,000 victims, bringing the total to over 40,000 victims in the Madoff scheme having recovered 93.71% of their fraud losses. In total, the MVF has paid over $4.3 billion from forfeited funds to 40,930 victims for losses suffered due to the collapse of  Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. 

"Today's distribution represents an unprecedented conclusion of victim compensation from civil forfeiture actions related to the Madoff scheme with more than $4 billion repaid to over 40,000 victims," said Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy of the FBI New York Field Office. 

"These victims implicitly trusted Madoff with their investments only to ultimately lose significant monies to his selfish plan. With the Justice Department's steadfast support, the FBI will continue its tireless seizure of assets from criminals who steal from others and seek to recover those assets for victim losses," Dennehy added. 

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