Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, a 2006 Democratic candidate for governor in New York, said his office reaped a record level of financial recoveries in 2004.
Total payments to the state, its local governments and members of the public increased 37% to more than $2.3 billion, Sptizer's office indicated.
About $1.3 billion of that money is restitution payments that will be paid directly to individuals. Wall Street cases account for $1 billion of that money and the funds have been deposited, Spitzer's office said, in a federal "Fair Fund." The fund was created by Congress to provide restitution to injured investors.
The largest settlement was with Bank of America, which paid $675 million, including $320 million in restitution, for malfeasance that occurred at its Nations funds and Columbia funds. Bank of America took over the Columbia funds with its purchase of FleetBoston last April.