The bankruptcy proceedings for Aum Shinrikyo will conclude on March 26 even though the doomsday cult will pay only 40 percent of the ¥3.8 billion owed to victims of the crimes it committed more than a decade ago.

Lawyer Saburo Abe, who was appointed by the court to manage Aum's assets in 1996, told reporters Wednesday at the Tokyo District Court that the bankruptcy process has reached its limit because of the size of Aum's huge debts.

According to Abe, the cult still owes roughly ¥5.1 billion.