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The amount  greatly expands the $2.3 billion sum that  Mr. Picard had already collected through asset sales and other settlements in the Madoff bankruptcy.  The figure represents the difference between the cash that Mr. Picower put into his Madoff account and the amount that he withdrew over the life of the fraud, according to litigation filed last year by Mr. Picard.

Mr. Bharara said the settlement constituted the largest single forfeiture in American judicial history.

Calling the Madoff scheme “deplorable,” Mrs. Picower said in her statement that she was confident that her husband had not been involved but that returning the gains was the right thing to do.

“I believe that this settlement honors what Jeffry would have wanted, which is to return this money so that it can go directly to the victims of Madoff,” she said, adding that she planned to return to “the philanthropic work that was so important to Jeffry and me.”

Via