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Disgraced Money Manager Claims Place Where He Lives Under House Arrest Should Not Be Subject To Seizure
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Bernard L. Madoff walks down Lexington Ave to his apartment on Dec.17, 2008, in New York City.
Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
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Bernie Madoff is accused of fleecing his clients out of billions, but he said Monday he shouldn't be forced into the poorhouse.
His lawyers are arguing that Madoff should be entitled to keep the $7 million apartment he's currently being held in while under house arrest and $62 million, including $45 million in municipal bonds.
Court papers filed on Monday state that Madoff and his lawyer say the Manhattan penthouse and the millions held in accounts of Madoff's wife, Ruth, are not subject to seizure.
The court papers say Madoff claims the apartment and the money are unrelated to a $50 billion fraud Madoff has been accused of carrying out.
The FBI arrested Madoff in December after investigators said he confessed to his sons that he had swindled investors of $50 billion in a Ponzi scheme. The 70-year-old former Nasdaq chairman remains confined to his Manhattan apartment under house arrest.
He was arrested and charged with securities fraud after authorities said in court papers that he confessed to his sons that he had carried out a giant Ponzi scheme for years, using new money from investors to pay off early investors while bogus statements claimed consistent gains.
The bonds in an account held by Ruth Madoff at COHMAD Securities Corp. and about $17 million held by her in a Wachovia Bank account "are unrelated to the alleged Madoff fraud and only Ruth Madoff has a beneficial interest in these assets," Bernard Madoff and lawyer Ira Sorkin say, according to the papers.
Sorkin declined to comment Monday.
A court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of Madoff's assets has said the apartment and other property used to secure bail was off limits for now. But if there's a conviction, those assets and possibly property of Madoff "insiders" could be seized to help pay claims by alleged victims, which so far total about $1 billion.
"We are looking at every member of the Madoff family," David Sheen, an attorney representing the trustee, said recently regarding the personal property.
The information was contained in an order of consent asking a judge to grant the federal government authority to seek forfeiture of assets involved in any fraud. It was filed in a case brought by the SEC against Madoff.
The request was made by Madoff, his wife, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Securities Investor Protection Corp. and trustee Irving H. Picard. Judge Louis L. Stanton signed the order Monday afternoon.
Picard has said that nearly $950 million in cash and securities has been recovered for investors so far.
The audacity.
