WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some of the investors who lost money in an alleged $50 billion fraud run by Bernard Madoff may be able to recover funds within the next few months, the president of the Securities Investor Protection Corp said yesterday.

"That's when we hope that some of the simpler claims can be resolved," SIPC president Stephen Harbeck said.

SIPC is a non-profit agency set up by Congress to maintain a fund to help investors who had accounts at brokerage firms that failed. The fund, supported by broker dealer assessment fees, has $1.6 billion. SIPC has mailed more than 8,000 applications to Madoff investors so they can file claims for any money they may have lost.

Harbeck said it was too early to say how many investors had been defrauded, adding that he would have a better idea within six months. He also said he did not know whether SIPC would have to seek additional funding from Congress.

"It's too early to speculate on that until we see what the consequences are," said Harbeck.