About 5,600 investors hit hard by the Norbourg Asset Management Inc. financial scandal learned on Wednesday that they will be getting some of their money back as government-appointed liquidator Ernst & Young LLP announced it will distribute roughly $31.2 million back to them.

The rest of the more than $80 million that disappeared is being held until a judge decides how it will be distributed.

Norbourg’s problems came to light last summer when Quebec’s financial regulator, l’Autorité des marchés financiers, discovered a $130-million discrepancy between the company’s financial results and its assets under management.

Norbourg’s assets were frozen last August. It’s alleged more than 9,000 investors, mostly from Quebec, were defrauded.

The money management company filed for bankruptcy in October 2005.

In March of this year, the AMF laid 51 securities charges against Norbourg founder Vincent Lacroix. The regulator said 24 of the charges relate to false or misleading information and 27 relate to manipulating mutual fund values.

A Quebec judge declared Lacroix bankrupt in May.