Madoff victims get another $355m payout

Investors lost are $US20b in Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme. Photo / Getty

The New York trustee recovering money for investors cheated in Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme has distributed $US355 million more to victims.

Trustee Irving Picard said in a release that over half of Madoff's investors with allowable claims have been fully compensated.

He adds that everyone with an allowable claim of less than $976,000 has been fully paid.

Picard says the latest distribution to investors was the fifth and represents another significant step forward.

Picard says the average payout in the latest round was $330,000. The smallest is $431 and the biggest is $67 million.

So far, Picard's office has recovered over $10.5 billion. More than $7.2 billion has been paid out.

Investors lost about $20 billion.

Madoff was arrested in 2008. He is serving a 150-year prison sentence.