Funds Recovered

Finding $15.3 Billion Lost in Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme

Unraveling the world’s largest Ponzi scheme is one thing. Recovering the funds is another.

In December 2008, Bernie Madoff admitted that the investment advisory business within his firm was a Ponzi scheme, setting off his arrest and a chain reaction of events throughout the financial services world and philanthropic communities. A Trustee under the Securities Investor Protection Act was appointed to liquidate Madoff’s firm and to recover the proceeds from his Ponzi scheme. FTI Consulting experts were engaged by Irving Picard, the Trustee, and BakerHostetler, the Trustee’s counsel.

Our Impact

FTI Consulting’s work enabled the Trustee to recover more than $15.3 billion to date, representing more than 80% of the stolen funds.


By the Numbers

Madoff Recovery Initiative

$15,3B

Recovered to Date

$15.3 billion recovered to date.

16 500+

Claims

With the Trustee, the teams investigated more than 16,500 claims, ultimately allowing more than 2,600.

1 000+

Lawsuits

FTI Consulting provided litigation support for more than 1,000 lawsuits.

In crisis and transformation,real-world experience delivers.

Discover Our Expertise

Our Role

Unparalleled forensic accounting and financial fraud investigative expertise

The complexity and size of the fraud required the analysis of a massive amount of information and data. FTI Consulting performed the extraction, transformation and loading of multiple data sources to develop complex financial analyses with user-friendly reporting capabilities.

  1. FTI Consulting investigated Madoff’s financial affairs, identified and analyzed massive amounts of documents and data, and continues to provide forensic accounting analysis and expert testimony to help the Trustee recover the stolen funds.

  2. FTI Consulting reconstructed books and records, determined amounts deposited and withdrawn from thousands of customer accounts and analyzed hundreds of millions of transactions.

  3. FTI Consulting experts have provided expert testimony and litigation support for more than 1,000 lawsuits, including two actions that reached the Supreme Court of the United States.​

  4. FTI Consulting’s Technology and Data & Analytics experts analyzed Madoff’s computer systems, reviewed system code and reconstructed certain system functionality.

  5. Our multidisciplinary team, including experts in electronic evidence, data analysis, forensic accounting, cash tracing and fraud investigations, continues to assist the Trustee’s counsel with requests related to various litigation and forensic activities.


Real-world experience that delivers.

See why FTI Consulting is the leading global expert firm for organizations facing crisis and transformation.

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