Estimate of Madoff victims grows

USA Today reports:

Government officials say Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard Madoff may have scammed more victims than previously estimated — and stolen more from them, too.

More than 51,700 claims had been filed as of April 30 from investors who said they'd been scammed, according to a Tuesday update from Richard Breeden, the special master administering the Madoff Victim Fund on behalf of the Department of Justice.

The claims flowed in from 119 countries and reported more than $40 billion in net losses.

Breeden said the filings haven't yet been reviewed to weed out "ineligible, duplicate or overstated claims," which are expected "to be substantial." But the flow gives an updated sense of the numbers seeking a share of the roughly $4 billion federal prosecutors recovered through Madoff-related forfeitures.

The great moments of Democrat party fundraisers.