Victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme objected yesterday to a settlement in which the estate of billionaire Jeffry Picower, who also invested, agreed to forfeit $7.2 billion.

In a filing in Manhattan’s US Bankruptcy Court, the investors said the settlement with Picower’s widow, Barbara, could interfere with their own efforts to get money from the estate. Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Madoff’s firm, doesn’t represent them because they didn’t lose principal in the fraud and they also have tax claims.

“By the trustee’s settlement, the Picower entities are paying Picard more than twice what he could recover if he won completely on his pending complaint,” Helen Davis Chaitman, a lawyer for the investors, said in an e-mail.

Picard sued Picower in May 2009, claiming he withdrew $7.2 billion more than he invested. Picower died in October 2009 at age 67.

Picard and US Attorney Preet Bharara announced the settlement on Dec. 17.