New York ( CNN ) -- Nearly eight years after Adelphia 's founder was among those convicted for essentially looting the cable company , fraud victims can now get their share of a record $ 728 million fund , the top federal prosecutor in New York announced Monday . A news release from the office of Preet Bharara , U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York , described the payout as the `` largest single distribution to victims '' in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice . It has been years in the making . Four Adelphia executives were arrested in 2002 in a case that prosecutors then described as `` one of the most elaborate and extensive corporate frauds in United States history . '' At the time , Adelphia was the fifth largest cable company in the nation . Two years later , CEO and founder John Rigas was found guilty of conspiracy , securities fraud and bank fraud , among other charges , for raiding the company of hundreds of millions of dollars for his personal use . He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison . His son Timothy was found guilty of conspiracy and 15 counts of securities fraud and two counts of bank fraud . John Rigas ' other son , Michael , and a fourth defendant , Michael Mulcahey , a former director of internal reporting , were found not guilty of conspiracy , and the jury failed to reach verdicts on most of the other charges against Michael Rigas . In 2005 , officials announced that the then-bankrupt cable operator agreed to a deal that allowed its operators -- who cooperated with investigators -- to avoid criminal prosecution . Adelphia was officially sold off to Comcast and Time Warner , the parent company of CNN , months later . The victims fund amounted to nearly half of an estimated $ 1.5 billion in assets , including Adelphia stock worth about $ 567 million , that the Rigas family forfeited as part of a complex series of agreements announced by then U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales . The U.S. attorney 's office explained that in the years since that settlement was reached , officials have undertaken `` the complex process of notifying large numbers of potential victims , processing more than 13,000 petitions , verifying pecuniary losses and recommending ... distribution of the forfeited funds to the Attorney General . '' About 8,500 petitions sought for a portion of the fund were granted for `` victims who suffered financial losses as a direct result of the fraud , '' according to Bharara 's office .
Victims of fraud under former cable company Adelphia can now get restitution . Comment: Adelphia 's founder was convicted eight years ago for fraud and conspiracy .