Sources of numbers and data
The Madoff affair
Sources of numbers and data
A list of where the numbers in the figures and text come from in which sources. Click the heading to open.
Read moreNumerical ledger (18 entries)
Read moreSources of the numbers in the figures
| Figure | What the figure represents | Value | Date/Period | Source and location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Figure 1 | Chart without numbers | — | — | — |
| Figure 2 | Clients of investment firm Avellino & Bienes file a complaint with the SEC | — | 1992-06 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 2 | SEC examiner cross-references Madoff's stock records with a DTC statement, finds a "perfect match" | — | 1992-11-13 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 2 | A Boston petitioner submits an 8-page complaint to the SEC | — | 2000-05 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 2 | Two trade journals publish articles on the consistent returns and secrecy | — | 2001-05 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 2 | The same petitioner's third complaint: "The world's largest hedge fund is a fraud" | — | 2005-10 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 2 | Madoff provides a DTC account number in his testimony | — | 2006-05-19 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 2 | Madoff registers as an investment adviser | — | 2006-08 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 2 | The SEC investigation is formally closed. | — | 2008-01 | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General 2009 |
| Figure 3 | Inflow to the main account: approx. $170 billion | — | Entire period of the fraud | U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 2020 p.26（PSR ¶16(o)） |
| Figure 3 | Balance on statements: approx. $65 billion | — | At the time of collapse (December 2008) | U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 2020 p.26（PSR ¶35, 62） |
| Figure 3 | Identified losses: over $13 billion, at least 1,341 accounts | — | Before sentencing (June 2009) | U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 2020 p.5 |
| Figure 3 | Claims allowed by the trustee: $20.315 billion | — | As of August 21, 2026 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of page |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 4.6% | 2011-10-04 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 33.6% | 2012-09-20 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 4.7% | 2013-04-01 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 3.2% | 2014-05-05 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 2.7% | 2015-02-06 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 8.3% | 2015-12-04 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 1.3% | 2016-06-30 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 1.7% | 2017-02-02 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 3.8% | 2018-02-22 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 2.7% | 2019-02-22 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 2.0% | 2020-02-28 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 1.2% | 2021-02-26 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 0.6% | 2022-02-25 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 0.3% | 2023-02-24 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 0.4% | 2024-02-23 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 0.4% | 2025-02-28 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 4 | Trustee's interim distributions (as a percentage of allowed claims' net equity) | 1.3% | 2026-02-27 | Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS Top of the page (list of distributions) |
| Figure 5 | Statements show approx. $2.5 billion, DTC records show less than $18 million | — | January 31, 2005 | — |
| Figure 5 | Trustee recoveries $15.485 billion・Distributions $14.799 billion | — | August 21, 2026 | — |
Read moreWhat does this tell us?
The historical sources are divided into three groups. First, the criminal records. The transcript of the sentencing proceeding on June 29, 2009 (51 pages) is publicly available from the U.S. Attorney's Office and includes statements from nine victims, statements from the defense attorney and the defendant, and the judge's reasoning and sentence. The government's opposition to the motion for a sentence reduction, dated March 5, 2020 (31 pages), cites the non-public PSR and the March 12, 2009 plea allocution transcript by paragraph and page number; the explanation of the scheme is based on this document. The plea allocution transcript itself and the PSR are read within the scope cited by this document. Second, SEC documents: the announcement of the lawsuit on December 11, 2008, and the Office of the Inspector General's investigation report (OIG-509, 477 pages) of August 31, 2009. The summary and the section on the 1992 investigation were read. Third, liquidation records: the SIPC case page and the trustee's pages on recoveries and claims, with figures as of August 21, 2026.
These sources have biases and limitations. Government documents are written from a position opposing the defendant's release, and his words are selectively quoted by the government. Some figures in the sentencing record (such as the trustee's recovery of $1.225 billion) are from the defense counsel's statement and were not adopted by the judge. The OIG report investigates the SEC's failures and does not address the actual amount of damages. The trustee's pages are a publication of their own achievements and are updated weekly. The start date differs among the defendant, the PSR, the judge, and the forensic accountant, and the losses vary depending on the metric used.
From NOMISMA's perspective, the source criticism of this case comes down to one question: "Does the record match independent sources?" For the statements customers received, the party to verify them with was the issuer himself. When the OIG later checked with the DTC, it found that on January 31, 2005, the same day a feeder fund's statement showed approximately $2.5 billion in S&P 100 stocks, Madoff's DTC account held less than $18 million of the same type of stocks. After the collapse, an SEC lawyer confirmed within a few days, with "a single phone call to the DTC," that no trading had occurred.
Official Documents
Court Records
- United States v. Bernard L. Madoff, 09 Cr. 213 (DC) — Sentencing transcript, June 29, 2009
- United States v. Bernard L. Madoff, 09 Cr. 213 (DC) — Memorandum of Law of the United States in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for a Reduction in Sentence (Doc. 223)
- Recoveries — Madoff Recovery Initiative (Trustee's public page for the SIPA liquidation)
- Claims Status — Madoff Recovery Initiative (Trustee's public page for the SIPA liquidation)
Institutional Accounts
Start Date
At least the 1980s
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 2020Early 1990s
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 2020Clearly began before the 1990s
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York— Published by the U.S. Attorney's Office SDNY 20091970s
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 2020Metrics for Damage Amount
Over 13 billion in direct losses (not including those via feeder funds)
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 2020Approx. 65 billion balance shown to customers (fictitious)
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York 202020.315 billion in allowed claims (net equity)
Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS"Total damages of 65 billion"
Read moreBibliography (7 items)
- SEC Charges Bernard L. Madoff for Multi-Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme (Press Release 2008-293) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission・2008-12-11・Open source
- United States v. Bernard L. Madoff, 09 Cr. 213 (DC) — Sentencing transcript, June 29, 2009 U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Hon. Denny Chin) — Published by U.S. Attorney's Office SDNY・2009-06-29・Open source
- United States v. Bernard L. Madoff, 09 Cr. 213 (DC) — Memorandum of Law of the United States in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for a Reduction in Sentence (Doc. 223) U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York (Audrey Strauss, Drew Skinner, Louis A. Pellegrino)・2020-03-05・Open source
- Investigation of Failure of the SEC to Uncover Bernard Madoff's Ponzi Scheme (Report No. OIG-509) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General・2009-08-31・Open source
- Recoveries — Madoff Recovery Initiative (Publication page of the SIPA liquidation trustee) Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS (BakerHostetler)・Open source
- Claims Status — Madoff Recovery Initiative (Publication page of the SIPA liquidation trustee) Irving H. Picard, SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of BLMIS (BakerHostetler)・Open source
- Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC — Case Details (SIPC Cases & Claims) Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC)・2008-12-15・Open source
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