Madoff Was Livin' Large in Lap of Luxury

(AP) - Sex and scandal have not been enough to make major sellers out of books about Bernard Madoff. According to Nielsen BookScan, neither a much-discussed tell-all by alleged ex-mistress Sheryl Weinstein nor a recent wave of biographies about the imprisoned financier have caught on with the public. Weinstein's Madoff's Other Secret, has sold just 2,000 copies, ranking it No. 3,506 on Amazon. More»

With $125K to spend yearly, time to trade in the pair of Mercedes

(NEWSER) - With just $2.5 million at her disposal as her husband heads to jail, Ruth Madoff won't exactly be sentenced to penury, but she'll have to cut her annual expenses to the low six figures if she wants it to last her lifetime, reports Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal. She should start by trading the two Mercedes in for a SmartCar, and finding a $3,500-a-month rental apartment—modest by Manhattan standards. Or, better, she could move to Florida—farther inland than the Palm Beach spread she's lost—where her dollars will go farther. More»

Cuomo pushes Merkin out

(NEWSER) - Thanks to some strong arming from Andrew Cuomo, financier J. Ezra Merkin is stepping down as manager of his hedge fund and placing it into receivership, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cuomo charged Merkin in a civil fraud complaint last month, saying he “betrayed hundreds of investors,” by pumping $2.4 billion into Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Merkin allegedly told his investors, mostly nonprofit groups and universities, that he was managing the money himself. More»

Yacht, motorboat part of his $823M fortune

(NEWSER) - US Marshals seized two boats belonging to jailed schemer Bernie Madoff today, the AP reports. The vessels—a 55-foot yacht and a 24-foot motorboat that were docked at separate Florida marinas—were part of the $823 million in assets Madoff and his wife had accumulated by the end of last year. The 1969 Rybovich yacht, Bull, was "extremely well kept," a Marshals spokesman said. More»

Peter Madoff had 'full knowledge' of scam, lawsuit charges

(NEWSER) - A Brooklyn law student who lost a $500,000 inheritance in the Bernard Madoff scam has won a court order freezing the assets of the swindler's brother, reports Reuters. Peter Madoff was in charge the student's trust, which he invested in Madoff's s scheme. Peter Madoff was an executive officer of the investment company but has not been charged with a crime. The suit charges he had "full knowledge that it was a fraudulent Ponzi scheme and an unprecedented fraud." More»