Will Madoff's Victims Be Picower's Heirs?

Ten days before he died in his swimming pool, billionaire Jeffry Picower signed a new will. The "longtime investor in Bernard L. Madoff’s fraud scheme" left $225 million to his wife and daughter and $10 million to his long-time assistant. The reminder of the estate is left to charity.

Or perhaps it will go to the truly needy.

The New York Times reports that Irving Picard, the trustee representing Madoff's victims, has demanded that the Picower estate hand over $7 billion that the Picowers received in payouts from Madoff. The estate argues that the trustee is entitled to no more than $2.4 billion.

All told, trustee Picard estimates that Madoff's victims lost around $21 billion. Additional "losses" were imaginary profits that never existed.