Victims of the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme have been approved for $524.25 million of payments according to the trustee who is trying to recover Madoff’s assets.

The sum is about one-eighth of the $4.44 billion of the allowed claims that the court appointed trustee has identified. Holders of about 2,335 accounts at Madoff’s firm suffered about $21.2 billion of losses.

The Securities Investor Protection Corp, a federally chartered agency that supervises the liquidation of brokerages, has made the $534.25 million of distributions on about 1,558 claims, relating to the 1,368 customer accounts.

Federal law limits SIPC protection to $500,000.