Feds seize Madoff's boats in South Florida

[seafan]

Source: Miami Herald

Bernard Madoff's South Florida property was grabbed by the government on Wednesday, as federal authorities took over an antique yacht and a smaller motor boat -- part of an effort to recoup assets to pay back his swindled investors.
Madoff's 55-foot yacht named ''Bull'' was seized from a Fort Lauderdale marina, while a 24-foot motor boat was taken from a storage facility in Palm City, said Barry Golden, a Miami-based spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service.

The yacht, a 1969 Rybovich, is worth between $800,000 and $2 million, he said. It was taken from Roscioli Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale, where it had been kept since 1996.
''The boat is in extremely good condition,'' Golden said. ``A lot of money has gone into maintaining that boat. It was totally refurbished, with new engines. It's like somebody took a scrub brush and a bottle of 409 or bleach and washed it everyday.''
The second boat, a Pathfinder, was seized from a storage facility at Heritage Square Industrial Park in Palm City, Golden said.

.....

Madoff, 70, is in jail pending sentencing for pleading guilty to charges he bilked billions from investors in what could be the biggest scam in Wall Street history. He faces a maximum sentence of 150 years behind bars.

.....


Court documents filed by Madoff's attorneys have indicated Madoff and his wife had up to $826 million in assets at the end of last year -- including the boats. Madoff also has an $11 million, five-bedroom mansion in Florida's ritzy Palm Beach Island.
If prosecutors get their way, Madoff and his wife Ruth, who has not been charged, will have to give up all their assets, including a $7 million Manhattan penthouse bought in 1984, the Palm Beach home, a $1 million home in Cap d' Antibes, France and a $3 million luxury home on New York's Long Island. The government also wants Madoff and his wife to forfeit $10 million in furnishings for all the homes and luxury cars, among other items.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/979237.html

[notadmblnd]

1. Take it all. Put them in jail or out on the streets

[soothsayer]

2. I guess we all know what Bull stands for

[Thor_MN]

3. People are now taking his Bull ships, after having taken his bullshit for years.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. They've siezed the Palm Beach house, too ... (BBC link)

US marshals seize Madoff property

Marshals in Florida have seized the multi-million dollar Palm Beach house of disgraced US financier Bernard Madoff and his wife.
***
Separately, US financial regulators accused a major feeder fund of lying to clients about the risks they faced.

Officials in Florida confirmed that the Madoff's house in the exclusive area of the state had been entered and secured.

"We're seizing the property as we speak," Barry Golden of the US Marshals Service told Reuters.

Mr Golden was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the process of changing locks and conducting an inventory of the contents could take "a while".
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7977665.stm

[seafan]

5. Thanks, eppur_se_muova. Here's more from the Palm Beach Post:

Feds take over Madoff's Palm Beach estate

By JANE MUSGRAVE

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 01, 2009

PALM BEACH — The seizure of Bernard Madoff's trinkets, toys and his house has begun.
At 6 p.m. today U.S. Marshals swept onto the disgraced financier's Palm Beach estate.

.....

The marshals received orders from U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, the New York judge who is presiding over the criminal case against Madoff.

The part-time Palm Beach resident is in jail in New York City after admitting he bilked investors out of $65 billion by running one of the biggest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in the nation's history. The 70-year-old faces 150 years in prison when he is sentenced June 16.

U.S. attorneys are seeking the forfeiture of millions in assets, including $2.6 million worth of jewelry owned by his wife, Ruth; 35 sets of watches and cuff links owned by Madoff; various cars, including a 2007 BMW, two Mercedes Benzes and a 2004 Volkswagen Touareg; a Steinway piano valued at $39,000; and silverware valued at $65,000. One of Ruth Madoff's bank accounts, which prosecutors have asked to seize, contains $17 million, according to court documents.

[kpete]

6. Authorities Seize Madoff Propert

Source: TIME Magazine

Authorities Seize Madoff Property
By AP / BRIAN SKOLOFF and TAMARA LUSH Wednesday, Apr. 01, 2009

(PALM BEACH, Fla.)—Federal authorities seized disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's Palm Beach mansion, his vintage yacht and a smaller boat Wednesday, part of an effort to recoup assets to pay back investors he swindled.

Barry Golden, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, said about five U.S. marshals arrived at the 8,753-square-foot, five-bedroom mansion late Wednesday afternoon, hours after marshals seized the boats. Authorities planned to enter and secure the mansion, change the locks and conduct an inventory of the property, which Palm Beach County records show had a taxable value of $9.3 million last year.

Golden said marshals will spend about three to four hours filming and photographing items in the house that might be removed at some point. The mansion was unoccupied when federal authorities arrived.

"It's not an April Fools' joke," he said.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1888980,00.html

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. Seize Rummy's, Dim-son's, Sleazy's, Darth's and so on - THEN I'll be impressed.

.
.
.

This Madoff thing is just peanuts to throw under the bus

Yeah - he and his family/cronies probably deserve it, but he is but a wee part of the financial scam that was perpetrated during the BFEE's reign . .

[customerserviceguy]

8. Interesting

This is the Palm Beach home, and wife Ruth filed a homestead notice on it. I guess that doesn't apply to the Feds.

Part of me is glad, part of me is a bit alarmed...

[Blandocyte]

9. Sucks to have your propert seized

[PaulaFarrell]

10. Wasn't ever really his

He used other people's money to buy it, so it was never "his" to start with