Widow returns $7.2 Billion from Madoff earnings to save face

The settlement represents the largest forfeiture in U.S. history and will recover more than one-third of the cash stolen by Madoff, and means that most of the victims will see at least half of their losses returned. 

The windfall was recovered from the estate of philanthropist Jeffry Picower, who was the largest single beneficiary of Madoff's ponzi scheme. Picower died in October of 2009 at the age of 67 from drowning after having a heart attack in the swimming pool of his beachfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

Picower's widow Barbara has pledged to return $7.2 billion to victims of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme in an extraordinary effort to save face from her husbands collusion in the Madoff scandal. She is returning the amount of profit her husband received from his investments with Madoff over a period of twenty years. 

She is not returning the assets purchased nor the interest she and her husband earned from the $7.2 billion in stolen profits.