Madoff clean-up fees set to top $1.3bn

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Financial Times:

The army of lawyers and consultants helping to recover funds from Bernard Madoff’s $19.6bn fraud stands to earn more than $1.3bn in fees, according to new figures that detail the cost of liquidating the huge Ponzi scheme.

The biggest payment is set to go to Baker Hostetler, the law firm where Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee charged with recouping money for Mr Madoff’s victims, is a partner.

Baker Hostetler has been paid $128m since being appointed in December 2008 and will receive an estimated $603m for its work between 2011 and 2014, according to a letter sent by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation to Scott Garrett, a US congressman, last month.

The trustee has received $3.2m and stands to make a further $12.5m over the next three years, the document says.