Winners and Losers in the Madoff Scam...

The WSJ reported yesterday that the courts are deciding whether investors in Madoff's Ponzi scheme who took out more money than they put in should be able to collect recovered funds. The trustee is arguing that any recovered funds should be given to those who took out less than they put in since their funds were already given to the net winners. The article points out that if net winners are also given a share of the recovered funds then this means less funds will go to the net losers. Since, no net loser will ever break even after it's all said and done, the net winners will be better off than the net losers even if they had to forfeit any amounts they received above their investment. The amazing thing is that this has to be debated in court! I think the real net winners are the attorneys who are fueling the arguments!