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Peregrine Financial trustee seeks to distribute $123 million


    (Reuters) - Peregrine Financial Group's bankruptcy trustee is seeking court approval to distribute $123 million to former customers of the futures brokerage, the first they would see of their funds since Peregrine's collapse in mid-July.

    The trustee, Ira Bodenstein, has about $181 million on hand, he said in a court filing late Wednesday. The earliest the distribution could take place would be September 22, according to the filing.

    Peregrine filed for bankruptcy protection on July 10, a day after its CEO attempted suicide and confessed to a long-running fraud. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has pegged the amount of missing customer funds at more than $200 million.

    (Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)