Half of Madoff accounts show no loss

       Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday that a review of most accounts held by financier Bernard Madoff's customers when he was arrested shows that about half of the customers had not lost money because they withdrew more money than they originally invested.
       Prosecutors made the revelation as they told a judge in court papers that there was no need to order restitution because all of Madoff's assets will be distributed to investors through forfeiture requirements.
       As part of their filing in the US district court in Manhattan, they summarised the findings of a court-calculating how much investors lost so it can be decided how to divide up assets that are recovered.
       The government said a search of financial records, including microfilm records dating back to 1979, show that investors suffered net losses exceeding US$13 billion (Bt436 billion). In all, 15,870 claims have been made to the trustee by those seeking a share of any recovered money.