A Manitoba judge approved a trio of settlement agreements in the class action lawsuit against the Crocus Investment Fund this morning, a move that clears the way for shareholders to finally receive money that is rightfully theirs.

Justice Kenneth Hanssen gave the green light to settlements from the defunct fund's directors and officers, its former lead underwriter Wellington West Capital, and its former auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

That removes the last hurdle for Deloitte &Touche, Crocus's receiver, to make an application to the court to pay out money to the fund's 34,000 shareholders.

In total, the three settlements are worth nearly $10 million. Coupled with two previous agreements with the Province of Manitoba and the Manitoba Securities Commission, the $200-million class action will receive about $12.5 million from a quintet of defendants.

"It's almost the end, we're very close to the end," said David Klein, the Vancouver-based lawyer representing the shareholders in the class action.

It will be at least two-and-a-half months -- 74 days to be exact -- until shareholders can expect to receive an initial distribution from Deloitte, which is currently overseeing more than $66 million in the Crocus portfolio