Spoils of Madoff’s lavish life up for sale

Thousands of personal items belonging to jailed financier Bernard Madoff are being sent for auction to compensate his victims.

Federal marshals staged a preview of items seized from a New York penthouse a Long Island beachhouse used by Mr Madoff and his wife Ruth – from bed linens, clothing, cookware and luggage to intimate items like used socks, cuticle scissors and even bottles of shampoo. There were also artworks, more than a dozen luxury watches, and antique furniture.

“And he loved shoes and spent a lot of money on 250 pairs – some never worn,” said auctioneer Bob Sheehan, who will conduct the auction for the US Marshals Service that seized Mr Madoff’s properties and ordered his wife to leave.

Proceeds from the 489 lots with an estimated pre-sale worth of $1.5 million (£928,000) will go to the US Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Fund to compensate the convicted swindler’s victims. An auction last year of his property raised $1 million dollars.

The most valuable lot in today’s auction at a Manhattan hotel is Ms Madoff’s 10.5-carat diamond ring, with an estimated value of between $300,000 and $350,000 dollars.

The trader cherished the winning bull in every form - as statues, paintings and even names for his boats (Bull, Sitting Bull and Little Bull).

The man who deceived thousands of investors also collected masks that were scattered around his home. On display at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard were three wooden masks with Native American motifs, all stained red. Bidders will get a chance to buy his boxer shorts, T-shirts, and Italian black velveteen slippers bearing the initials BLM in gold embroidery.

Mr Madoff’s world collapsed on December 11, 2008, when he was arrested and charged with running a multibillion dollar pyramid scheme.

He quickly admitted the scheme and investigators said that he may never have traded securities for his customers and instead used billions of dollars in cash from new investors to pay old ones, cheating charities, celebrities and institutional investors. Prosecutors estimate he defrauded at least 3,000 investors.

Mr Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was sentenced to 150 years in prison. Now 72, he is serving time at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.