New York: Fallen financier Bernard Madoff
and his wife's belongings fetched as much as 20 times their estimated value at auction.
Alan Richardson, a Florida dealer, almost got
Madoff's blue satin New York Mets baseball jacket with his
surname stitched on the back, valued at up to USD 720. The
bidder lost--just shy of the USD 14,500 final price at
yesterday's auction.
Two pairs of Ruth Madoff's diamond dangle earrings
sold for USD 70,000 each, against a pre-sale estimate of no
more than USD 9,800 and USD 21,400. But the most highly prized
item in the sale, Bernard Madoff's Rolex watch, fetched only
USD 65,000, paid by an unknown buyer. The watch was valued
between USD 75,000 and USD 85,000.
The auction, in the main ballroom of a Manhattan
hotel, was organized by the US Marshals Service, which
seized the couple's properties--a penthouse on Manhattan's
Upper East Side and houses in Montauk, New York, and Palm
Beach, Florida.
Inside the homes were some of the items on the block
yesterday, ordered forfeited as part of Madoff's sentencing
after he pleaded guilty in a multibillion-dollar fraud that
burned thousands of investors. Proceeds from the auction will
be divided among his victims.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 10:06