Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee liquidating Bernie Madoff's firm, has reached a settlement with the family of late Beverly Hills money manager Stanley Chais that will provide more than $277 million to victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme. A separate $15 million fund will pay claims by California investors.

The cash payout would boost to $11.46 billion the sum that Picard has recovered for former Madoff customers, or 65% of their estimated $17.5 billion loss. Picard has said half of the 2,597 accounts with valid claims have been fully paid off. Through 9/30/16, more than $1.42 billion has been spent on recovery efforts, including $824.6 million for legal fees for Picard's law firm Baker & Hostetler and $370.2 million for consultant fees.

A $4 billion fund overseen by former SEC Chairman Richard Breeden will also compensate Madoff victims.

Chais, who died in September 2010 at the age of 84, once handled investments for elite Hollywood clients like Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, and had been a close friend of Madoff since the 1960s. Picard had sought to recoup $1.3 billion of "fictitious profits" that he claimed the Chais defendants, including Chais' widow Pamela, withdrew from Madoff's firm.

In a court filing, Picard's lawyers said the settlement covered all of Stanley Chais' estate and substantially all of his widow's assets, and represented "a good faith, complete and total compromise."