A federal judge in Newark, N.J., has approved $88 million in settlements regarding a bid-rigging case that alleged several national insurance brokers conspired with carriers to manipulate the market.

In the case, the plaintiffs, property-casualty policyholders, claimed that Marsh & McLennan Cos. and several related brokerage violated antitrust and racketeering laws through a scheme that rigged bids for insurance policies and steered customers to certain carriers in return for payments or kickbacks, according to the New Jersey Law Journal.

Through one decision, $62 million of $69 million is designated for class plaintiffs, with up to $5 million to be used for claims by state officials on behalf of policyholders who are potential members of the class.  An additional $7 is allocated to resolve non-class member “tag along” actions.

In a separate decision in the same case, U.S. District Court Judge Garrett Brown Jr. also awarded $19 million in legal fees, costs and incentive payments from Marsh to a variety of recipients, including 50 law firms that spent almost 420,000 hours on the case, according to the report.

The litigation began in 2004 in various districts following an investigation by former-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who accused Marsh of bid-rigging.  In 2005, the suits were consolidated in New Jersey.