It Pays To Discovery: Madoff Trustee Wants Another $43 Million

Discover used to have a commercial that said "It pays to Discover." In this case, I guess they mean "It pays to discovery." According to an article from Bloomberg, Irving Picard and his law firm want another $43.2 million for four months worth of work, which could bring the total pay out to $175.5 million since Bernie Madoff was arrested in December 2008 for running the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history. From October 1 to January 31, Picard and Baker & Hostetler LLP racked up expenses of $1.1 million. So far, the case has taken 955 hours of Picard's time at $748 per hour, and 116,399 hours of his firm's time at $371 an hour, according to the filing. “The payment of fees and expenses to the trustee and any of his counsel has absolutely no impact on recoveries” by Madoff investors, Picard said in the statement. To date, Picard has recovered some $7.6 billion out of $17 billion in principal lost from the Ponzi scheme.