Madoffs were worth more than $823M

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Madoffs were worth more than $823M - file

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-14 10:19

NEW YORK – Bernard Madoff and his wife had $823 million in assets at the end of last year, including $22 million in properties stretching from New York to the French Riviera, a $7 million yacht and a $2.2 million boat named "Bull," according to a document his lawyers filed Friday.

Bernard Madoff arrives at Manhattan federal court Thursday, March 12, 2009, in New York. [Agencies]

The document, prepared for the Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of last year, was contained in papers filed with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in an effort to get Madoff freed on bail.

Among the couple's assets: a $12 million half share in a plane, $65,000 in silverware and a $39,000 piano. It values their four properties — in Manhattan, Montauk, Palm Beach, Fla., and Cap d'Antibes, France — at $22 million, and the furniture, fine art and household goods in the homes at $8.7 million.

But the bulk of Madoff's assets, according to the document, consists of an estimated $700 million value put on his investment business. Madoff said during his plea that the market making and proprietary trading side of his business were "legitimate, profitable and successful in all respects."

The couple's monthly expenses included $100,000 for legal fees, $140,000 for personal security, $2,860 for a housekeeper and $885 for a gardener, the document said. It also detailed more mundane monthly expenditures, such as $700 each for electricity and phones, $370 for cable, $250 for doctor visits and $70 for entertainment at the Manhattan penthouse, where Madoff was required to remain while on bail.

Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to 11 charges, including fraud, perjury and money laundering, in what could be the biggest swindle in Wall Street history. He faces a maximum sentence of 150 years in prison, and the judge immediately jailed him.

In arguing for his release, Madoff's lawyers say they would have a difficult time preparing for his sentencing without the ability to see him frequently to review his finances. They say they expect Madoff will be kept in solitary confinement, with limited contact with his lawyers, at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

They point out that Madoff did not flee after his December arrest, even though he "was always cognizant of the fact that he would die in prison."

"The reality of a life in prison term is not a recent revelation to Mr. Madoff, but an inevitability that he has been aware of since his arrest, if not earlier," the lawyers wrote.

An appeals court will hear the case Thursday.

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