Judge Carol Doyle of Chicago approved the return of $123 million dollars to customers of Peregrine Financial Group on Thursday. This amounts to 30 to 40 percent of initial customer investment held by the discredited firm. The CFTC was initially concerned about the trustees plan due to lingering questions about Peregrine’s accounts.
Peregrine’s customers lost more than $200 million in investments after CEO Russell Wasendorf Sr. mislead regulators in a 24-year embezzlement scheme. The payout issued by Peregrine trustees is supposed to be the first of multiple installments.
Peregrine customers accounts have been inaccessible since July, when Wasendorf attempted suicide after regulators obtained access to his bank account.
Wasendorf pleaded guilty to four felony counts on Monday, including mail fraud, embezzling customer funds, and two counts of making false statements to regulatory agencies.