$400M+ tab for Madoff swindler Merkin

Time to cough it up, Ezra!

Swindling moneyman Ezra Merkin will pay more than $400 million to settle charges he funneled $2 billion into Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme without his clients’ knowledge.

The giant clawback — whose size was accurately predicted by an exclusive report in The Post in March — includes $405 million that will go to investors and charities that were defrauded.

Another $5 million will go to legal fees for the state of New York, which brought the suit against Merkin.

“By holding Mr. Merkin accountable, this settlement will help bring justice,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.

The agreement will allow some of Merkin’s clients to recover as much as 40 percent of what they lost, with investors who had been kept in the dark recovering the most.

High-profile victims include New York Law School, Bard College and the Harlem Children’s Zone.

The settlement, however, doesn’t resolve a separate case brought against Merkin by Irving Picard, the trustee seeking money for all of Madoff’s victims.

Picard, who is trying to recover $500 million from Merkin in his own lawsuit, has thrown a wrench into negotiations by insisting that funds recovered from Merkin should be shared by all Madoff victims.

A spokeswoman for Picard — who has entered agreements to recover $9 billion, more than half the cash claims related to the $64 billion Ponzi scheme — did not respond to a request for comment.

While his clients’ money went up in smoke, Merkin collected $470 million in fees, according to the suit, which accused him of self-dealing, recklessness and negligence.