Making off with Madoff's slippers

If anyone has had an eye on the goodies purchased with Bernie Madoff’s ill-gotten gains, now’s the chance to catch a bargain. On November 13, Uncle Sam will be auctioning off some 400 of Madoff’s personal items, including a Steinway grand piano, a 10.5 carat diamond engagement ring and a pair of monogrammed velvet slippers. (For those interested, the auction will be held at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers. You can preview the items the day before the sale, either in person at Surroundart in Brooklyn, or online at www.txauction.com and www.usmarshals.gov/madoff.)

Meanwhile, efforts to compensate the victims of Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme (a/k/a “The Scam of the Century”) continue—with mixed results. According to the New York Post, Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Madoff’s investment firm, spent $26.9 million to recover $849,000. On the other hand, Picard’s efforts have proved lucrative for his own law firm, Baker & Hostetler, which received the bulk of those payments: $15.8 million, according to documents filed in Manhattan federal court.  Sensationalism aside, it should be noted that those sums represent only the amounts recovered and paid out in the second and third quarters of 2010; in total, Picard has reportedly recovered about $1.5 billion.

- posted by vera

what to wear for a weekend at Bernie’s

(U.S. Marshals Service)