U.S. prosecutors have filed a "notice of intent to seek forfeiture of certain assets" of Bernard and Ruth Madoff. Bernard Madoff, the investment guru who turned out to be a huge fraud and pleaded guilty to criminal charges last week, has been in jail awaiting sentencing, but his wife Ruth Madoff has been living in their $7 million Upper East Side penthouse (held in her name). Ruth Madoff also reportedly has $62 million in other assets, including other real estate. Naturally the Post calls this "a kick in the assets."
In the Daily Beast, Lucinda Franks (who happens to be wife of Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau) writes about how the feds are focusing in on Madoff's relatives—the ones who worked for him. Ruth Madoff, who was apparently the bookkeeper for the fraud, has been fighting to keep her assets: "[She] claims a house in Montauk was given to her by her father in the early '80s, according to a federal source: 'This is one of her recent fabrications. She darn well knows her father had no money. He didn't give it to her, Bernie did.'"
Franks' article notes how Madoff's brother Peter was, as chief compliance officer, "paid 'millions' for a job that usually commands a salary of $150,000- $250,000. A compliance lawyer often earns even less, but Peter’s daughter Shana received more than half a million dollars a year with that title."
Last week, it was revealed Madoff is worth around $823 million, most of it in the investment firm that is being liquidated.
