WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is leaving in place a ruling that allows the trustee recovering money for investors in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme to pursue more than $4 billion that went to overseas investors.

The high court on Monday declined to get involved in the case. As is usual, the justices did not comment in turning away the case.

An appeals court said the trustee, Irving Picard, could go after money that went through foreign investment funds back to foreign investors. A lower court had said those transactions were beyond the reach of U.S. law.

Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He admitted swindling thousands of clients out of billions of dollars in investments over decades. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

The court-appointed trustee has recovered approximately $14 billion of about $18 billion that investors put into Madoff's business.