Weekend At Bernie's, Madoff Property Goes Up For Sale

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Charles Ponzi, Boston Financial Analyst

The Spoils of the Madoff Scam to Be Sold at November Auction

Ruth's Emerald Ring, Bernie's Velveteen Slippers and the Desk Where He Ran His Scam on the Block

By ANNA SCHECTER and BRIAN ROSS

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The desk that authorities believe Bernard Madoff used to run his multi-billion dollar scam will be sold at auction next month along with his velveteen, monogrammed slippers and one of Ruth's diamond rings.

The proceeds will go to the victims of Madoff's monumental Ponzi scheme, according to the United States Marshal Service, which has been handling the sale of the spoils of Madoff's criminal enterprise.

"These pieces are the last of what once occupied the homes and lives of Bernard and Ruth's residences in New York city and Montauk, New York," said Joseph R. Guccione, the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York.

The nine-drawer desk, made of yew wood, was located in the Manhattan penthouse apartment where authorities say Madoff most likely ran his scheme, safely away from prying eyes in his nearby office.

U.S. Marshal described the ring as a "ladies diamond engagement ring consisting of one emerald cut diamond weighing 10.54 carats."

The Marshals Service distributed pictures today of some of the items to stir interest in the sale, set for November 13.

Among the most interesting pieces is the Steinway grand piano that graced the Madoff's well-decorated penthouse and Bernie's size 8 ½ velveteen slippers with red quilt lining, monogrammed in gold threat with the initials BLM.

More Bernard Madoff property going up for auction
NEW YORK — Bidders at a federal auction next month will have a chance to walk in the figurative footsteps of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.

A size 81/2 pair of black, velveteen slippers, with red quilted lining and Madoff's initials embroidered in gold thread, is scheduled to be among more than 400 pieces for sale during the latest in a series of auctions aimed at compensating the thousands of victims of Madoff's multibillion-dollar scam.

Other items going on the block during the Nov. 13 auction at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers include a Steinway & Sons grand piano and bench, a woman's engagement ring featuring a 10.54-carat emerald-cut diamond and an antique wooden desk.

And no Madoff auction would be complete without a miniature bronze rendering of the fallen financier's favorite symbol — a bull.

"These pieces are the last of what once occupied the homes and lives of Bernard and Ruth Madoff" at the couple's former Manhattan luxury apartment and onetime Montauk, N.Y., oceanfront home, said Joseph Guccione, the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York.

A November 2009 auction of hundreds of other personal items — including a New York Mets baseball jacket with Madoff's name stitched on the back, jewelry, watches, golf clubs and fishing gear — raised roughly $1 million.

A separate auction of the fallen financier's former minifleets of yachts and luxury cars fetched an additional $1 million. Sales of the Manhattan and Montauk homes, plus Madoff's former Palm Beach, Fla., mansion, are projected to bring in more than $23 million.

While federal officials welcome the combined sales revenue, the total represents a fraction of what Madoff stole by victimizing charities, celebrities and average investors worldwide. As of Oct. 15, the court-appointed trustee seeking Madoff's assets had allowed nearly $5.7 billion in claims filed by thousands of those victimized by the disgraced former Nasdaq chairman.

Madoff won't be around to observe the upcoming auction in person. He's serving a 150-year prison term at a medium-security federal correctional facility in Butner, N.C., after pleading guilty last year.

Related articles

• Bernie Madoff's Black Velvet Slippers Could Be Yours (blogs.forbes.com)
• Madoff Items Go Up for Auction, Slippers and All (dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Madoff Diamond Ring to Be Part of Auction (online.wsj.com)