Heraldnet.com
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 6:49 am
LocalNorthwestNation & WorldPoliticsSpecial ReportsPhotosColumnistsMultimedia 
Blog
Amy Rolph
Extension service offers small farm classes
Blog
Michelle Dunlop
Boeing consolidates defense divisions
Mike Benbow
Business editor Mike Benbow's insights into all things business.
•Latest: A wary take on health care bill
Steve Tytler
Steve Tytler answers your questions about real estate.
•Latest: What to do when surveys conflict
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
Wednesday


Farewell, Lincoln
A weekend of tragedy on Snohomish County-area r...
Everett port scuttles contract with Chicago dev...
Tuesday


A walk back in time
Group Health to lead study on gaps in medical care
Business worried over talk of taxes
Monday


Acts of kindness comfort family of girl killed ...
Two injured in early-morning I-5 crash near Arl...
Whidbey land trust must raise $525K by Friday
Sunday


Take a good look
Sultan man dead after Taser shock in Gold Bar
Rash of robberies puts Mill Creek on edge
Saturday


Three people killed in wreck on Whidbey Island
Two face charges following fatal Whidbey Island...
Ladiser won't do time in jail
Friday


Bigger than a rubber ducky
Ex-planning director gets 1-year suspended sent...
Suspect in Everett chase a repeat offender
Thursday


Man accused of shooting at police had allegedly...
Lynnwood notifies more than 100 employees of po...
New temporary police chief named in Granite Falls
 

ADVERTISEMENT

Business   Print This Article  Email This Page  Subscribe Now! facebook digg reddit del.icio.us fark stumble

Associated Press  (click to enlarge)
Convicted swindler Bernard Madoff's luxury penthouse apartment in Manhattan, seen in this aerial view, was seized Thursday by The U.S. Marshals Service.
 
 
CONTACT THE HERALD
Mike Benbow, Business Editor
benbow@heraldnet.com
 
Published: Friday, July 3, 2009

Marshals seize swindler's home

NEW YORK -- Federal marshals took possession of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $7 million Manhattan penthouse on Thursday in a move that forced his wife to move elsewhere.

Proceeds from a sale of the property and its contents could be used to help reimburse those who lost billions of dollars investing with Madoff before he confessed to running a Ponzi scheme.

U.S. Marshal Joseph Guccione said the marshals arrived at the property at noon with a court order permitting them to take custody of the apartment and to make anyone living there move out.

Guccione said Madoff's wife Ruth had been advised in advance of the marshals' plans and was leaving the residence and surrendering all personal property.

Typically, the U.S. Marshals Service changes all locks and secures a property when it seizes a location.

By about 1 p.m., the 67-year-old Ruth Madoff had left. It was not immediately clear where she went to live.

The 71-year-old Madoff was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in March to charges that his investment advisory business was a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that wiped out thousands of investors and ruined charities.

Authorities said Madoff had carried out the fraud for at least two decades before confessing to his sons in December that his investment business was a fraud and that he had lost as much as $50 billion.

Last week, Ruth Madoff agreed to give up all of her possessions in return for a promise that federal prosecutors would not pursue $2.5 million not tied to the fraud. The money, though, is not protected from civil legal actions that might be pursued by a court-appointed trustee liquidating Madoff's assets or by investor lawsuits.

Ruth Madoff broke her silence Monday when she said in a statement that her husband "stunned us all with his confession and is responsible for this terrible situation in which so many now find themselves."

Before she agreed on a deal with the government to resolve her finances a week ago, Ruth Madoff had indicated through lawyers that she planned to try to keep the penthouse and an additional $62 million in assets as unrelated to the fraud.

The Madoffs had homes in Palm Beach, Fla., the south of France and the tip of Long Island.

COMMENTS | Be the first to comment

Log in or register to post a new comment.


To read other terms and conditions, click here

Other Advertisers
TODAY'S TOP JOBS
 View All Top Jobs 
Top Cars
Top Homes

ADVERTISEMENT