A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Ohio has approved payment of $1.7 million in legal fees and expenses to lawyers working on the massive fraud case involving indicted Indianapolis financier Tim Durham.

Chief Judge Marilyn Shea-Stonum signed off on the payout Tuesday morning, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

The amount paid to lawyers so far nearly accounts for the entire $1.8 million that Fair Finance trustee Brian Bash has recovered so far.  Bash has said he expects to recover $78.5 million more of the estimated $230 million that investors lost to Akron, Ohio-based Fair Finance Co.’s alleged Ponzi scheme.

Bash’s Cleveland law firm, Baker Hostetler, accounts for the largest part of the $1.7 million in professional fees, which were submitted for approval last month.

Durham bought Fair Finance in 2002 and used it to orchestrate the largest Ponzi scheme in state history, Bash alleges. Durham and business partners James Cochran and Rick Snow were arrested March 16 after being indicted on 12 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud.

The three have pleaded not guilty.