There’s a $4 billion pot of cash at the Department of Justice for victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Thousands of them have been trying to tap the fund since it was set up three years ago, without seeing a penny. Many are elderly and live modestly. Some lost their life savings in the scam. One of them, a 50-year-old technology consultant in California, said he filed a claim in 2013 for $250,000 he lost in the fraud. Two years later, he got a letter telling him a “formal determination notice” would be sent. He’s still waiting. The more fortunate filed claims with Irving Picard, the trustee who liquidated ... (full story)