Feds to go after Ruth Madoff’s money too

Ruth Madoff will not get any breaks: Federal authorities plan to go after more than $100 million in real estate, cash, art, autos, boats and other property owned by her and her husband Bernard Madoff, who pleaded guilty last week to running the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

The government said in a court filing Sunday that it intends to seize all the assets, including the Madoffs’ Upper East Side penthouse, which is in Ruth Madoff’s name, as well as their homes in Montauk, New York, Palm Beach, Florida, and France, whose combined worth has been put at $22 million.

Other items sought by prosecutors include $17 million in cash and $45 million in bonds held in Ruth Madoff’s name, several yachts, all bearing names ending in “Bull,” four cars, silverware valued at $69,000 and a Steinway piano worth $39,000.

Madoff, 70, pleaded guilty March 12 to defrauding investors of as much as $65 billion and faces 150 years in prison. His attorneys filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York that he be freed until his sentencing June 16.

The government’s “notice of intent to seek forfeiture” is not a seizure, but rather, alerts U.S. District Judge Denny Chin and the Madoffs that prosecutors intend to go after the possessions.

Lawyers for the Madoffs have previously argued that Ruth Madoff is the rightful owner of $69 million worth of cash and bonds, in addition to the Manhattan apartment, which they say are “unrelated” to her husband’s fraud.

To date, she has not been accused of any wrongdoing. However, her withdrawal of $15 million from a brokerage account a short time before her husband was arrested has increased the suspicion that she knew something of her husband’s crimes.

According to court documents filed Friday, the Madoffs had nearly a billion dollars in personal wealth at the end of last year which is now being eyed by defrauded investors trying to recoup the money they lost in Madoff’s scam.

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• Ruth Madoff seeks to keep NY penthouse, $62M in assets - March 3, 2009
• Madoff ordered to jail after pleading guilty - March 12, 2009
• Ruth Madoff got $2M from husband’s UK office - March 27, 2009
• Madoff to face his victims in court Thursday - March 8, 2009
• Prosecutor: Madoff sent emeralds and diamonds to relatives, friends - January 7, 2009
• Court-appointed trustee goes after Madoff family’s wealth - May 6, 2009
• Bankruptcy trustee sues Ruth Madoff - July 30, 2009
• Bernard Madoff gets maximum sentence of 150 years - June 29, 2009
• Charges against Madoff leave many unanswered questions - March 11, 2009
• Ruth Madoff withdrew $15M before husband’s arrest - February 11, 2009