Irving Picard, who said last year he hoped to pay investors in Bernard Madoff 's defunct firm as much as $65 billion, has only put his hands onabout $2.6 billion to actually give back to customers. More than three years after Madoff's epic swindle collapsed,Picard, the trustee responsible for liquidating the firm, has paidinvestors back about $330 million, while holding about $2.3 billionin customer accounts. About $6.4 billion that Picard has won insettlements with former Madoff investors is being challenged incourt and is unavailable for disbursement. So far, winding down the Madoff estate has cost more than Picardhas sent to customers, with total administrative spending as ofMarch 31 at about $554 million, including fees for Picard, his firmand consultants rolex watches he hired, according to his April 25 report. At thesame time, Picard's strategy of filing $100 billion of lawsuits toclaw back money from Madoff winners has largely collapsed, asfederal judges led by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York have dismissed about $90 billion of Picard's claims. "There is a huge risk about making predictions, because you cannever be sure what a court will do," said Chip Bowles , a bankruptcy lawyer with Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP in Louisville, Ky. "People can object to his fees if he spentmillions on litigation and promised a lot of stuff and it didn'twork out." Claim Prices Slump As a result of Picard's setbacks in court, bids for claims on theMadoff estate, which peaked at about 70 cents on the dollar inJanuary 2011, now sell in "the low 50s," said Joseph Sarachek , CRT Capital Group LLC's managing director of claims trading. The price also reflects the likelihood that the payoff forinvestors who lost money in Madoff's fraud may be far off, Saracheksaid. That in turn makes it harder for claimholders to sell theirIOUs at attractive prices. "It does look like the case is going on for several years," hesaid. Amanda Remus, a Picard spokeswoman, didn't immediately respond toan email asking if the trustee has revised his estimate of how muchhe will ultimately pay Madoff customers. Picard's latest estimate of the con man's fictitious customerstatements is $52 billion. rolex blue face That includes $17.3 billion in actualmoney invested, with the rest being the fake profits Madoffinvented for customer statements. As of December, Picard estimatedthe total at $65 billion, before the withdrawal of some claims. SIPC Payments The $330 million he has sent to customers, out of the $2.6 billionset aside for them, contrasts with about $800 million they'vereceived from the insurance program of the Securities Investor swiss replicas rolex Protection Corp., which hired Picard and pays him. SIPC, which is funded by the major brokerage firms, no longerexpects Picard to pay all currently allowed claims of $17.3 billionin full, "based on current trustee assets, lawsuits filed, and theestimated possibilities for recoveries arising from thatlitigation," the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a March report. Even if Picard gets all of the $9 billion he says he has raised, hewould need another $8 billion or so to pay the claims, the GAOsaid. "SIPC does not now expect this level of recoveries to occur," thereport said. Picard Fees As of March 31, Picard himself has been paid about $5.1 million infees. His law firm, Baker & Hostetler LLP , has been paid about $262.2 million in fees. All professional feesand expenses now stand at about $522 million, with about $31.7million having been spent on general administrative costs such asoffice rent and telephones. By 2014, the bill will top $1 billion,Picard has estimated. Most of the money Picard says he has raised came from settlements,not court victories for his lawsuits, and he is fighting topreserve his exclusive right to sue parties that allegedly profitedknowingly from the fraud. Some customers say he is usurping their rights. After a districtjudge in March upheld Picard's $5 billion agreement with JeffryPicower's estate -- his biggest settlement by far -- lawyer Helen Chaitman appealed on behalf of a client. Chaitman will "absolutely" takethe case as far as the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary, she said inan e-mail -- a process that could take more than a year. Picower Withdrawals Picard's 2009 suit claimed that Picower, one of the con man'slargest individual investors, should have known Madoff ran a Ponzischeme when he withdrew $7.2 billion from the brokerage. Sarachek said Madoff claim prices were around their peak in January2011, when a judge approved the Picower forfeiture, with $5 billiongoing to the Madoff estate and $2.2 billion to the U.S. Some customers regard the Picower settlement as unfair because itstops them from suing the Picower estate themselves. Picard says he can't distribute the Picower money until there's afinal court order that can't be appealed. He didn't have to lockhimself into waiting for finality, as Picower's estate didn't makethat a condition of forfeiting money, Chaitman said in a courtfiling. The delay in paying customers "is totally of the trustee's ownmaking," she said. Chaitman has also challenged most of his feerequests. "Unfortunately, Madoff's victims have not received the benefits ofMr. Picard's services," Chaitman said in knock off rolex an e-mail. Overlapping Claims Picard opposes her right to sue the Picower estate, saying herclaims overlap with his, which take priority as he is trustee.Moreover, if Chaitman wins the right to sue the Picower estate forher customers, and wins her suit, she may be choosing who gets themoney. Only the trustee can claw back and allocate money allegedlystolen from Madoff customers, Picard has said. Picard's claim to replica rolex an exclusive right to sue for Madoff recoverieshas embroiled him in a battle with California Attorney General Kamala Harris over investment adviser Stanley Chais 's estate. Harris is trying to pursue a $270 million action againstthe estate, alleging Chais passed himself off as an "investmentwizard" and collected fees for "doing nothing more than funnelingall of his investors' capital into an epic Ponzi scheme." Picard sued Harris Jan. 4 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, saying her suit interferes with the collection ofassets needed to help compensate Madoff victims. A Manhattan courthearing is set for May 17. Tremont Group Madoff customers also have challenged Picard's $1 billion deal withTremont Group Holdings Inc. and a $220 million settlement struckwith the heirs of Norman F. Levy. Chaitman alleges that Levy, who died in 2005 at age 93, financedMadoff's Ponzi scheme to the tune of about $100 billion. Picard also won't pay out any more from the customer fund without a"final unappealable decision" on whether he owes them not rolex yachtmaster replica only themoney they invested, but also the fictitious profit on theirbrokerage statements, according to his website. The owners of the New York Mets baseball team, whom Picard had suedfor $1 billion, were among those challenging Picard's calculationof how they should be paid, until they reached a $162 millionsettlement that doesn't require them to pay any money for at leastfour years, if ever. The U.S. Supreme Court delayed a scheduled conference on whether itwill consider an appeal by Madoff customers who say they should becompensated for loss of profits reported on their brokeragestatements until after May 25, when it wants the U.S. Securitiesand Exchange Commission to weigh in on the subject. Allowable claims would treble to $52 billion if the judges agreedwith the customers -- Picard's current estimate of total fictitiousprofits in the Ponzi scheme. I am Fresh Vegetables writer, reports some information about black twin beds , reclining chair ottoman.