Judge lifts freeze on some assets

A New York apartment and $62 million belonging to Ruth Madoff, the wife of accused swindler Bernard Madoff, are unrelated to the investment manager's purported fraud, her lawyer said.

A judge in US District Court in Manhattan partially lifted a freeze on assets of Madoff and his wife on Monday in the civil case so he can cooperate with a trustee winding down his firm to recover money for customers.

"While Madoff and his counsel do not object to the entry of the Relief Order ... they maintain that some of the assets covered by the Relief Order are unrelated to the alleged Madoff fraud and only Ruth Madoff has a beneficial ownership interest in these assets," said the order signed by Judge Louis Stanton.