
(FILES) A picture taken on January 14, 2009 in New York, shows Bernard Madoff leaving US Federal Court after a hearing regarding his bail. The French prosecutor's office opened on May 29, 2009 an investigation into allegations of fraud following complaints from investors who say they were harmed in a pyramid scheme orchestrated by US financier Bernard Madoff, legal sources said. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)Bernard L. Madoff leaves US Federal Court after a hearing regarding his bail on January 14, 2009 in New York. (credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)
GREENWICH, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Officials say the number of victims seeking relief for fraud committed by Madoff Securities is much larger — and with much larger losses — than previously thought.
The U.S. Department of Justice official in charge of administering the Madoff Victim Fund said Tuesday that the fund has received more than 51,700 claims from investors. There were claims from investors in 119 countries who claim they lost more than $40 million in disgraced financier Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
READ MORE: Newark Public Schools Resume In-Person Learning Monday“Other than the Gobi desert and the polar icecaps, few places on earth seem to have escaped the scourge of this fraud,” Special Master Richard Breeden said in a statement. “This fraud was of epic, and truly global, proportions.”