$171bn worth of assets seized from Madoff

CONVICTED fraudster Bernard Madoff would be stripped of all his possessions under a $171 billion (R1.36 trillion) forfeiture order handed down only days before prosecutors seek to put him away in prison for the rest of his life.

US District Judge Denny Chin entered the preliminary order on Friday, ruling that Madoff must give up his interests in all property, including real estate, investments, cars and boats.

The forfeiture represents the total amount that could be connected to Madoff's fraud - not the amount stolen or lost - and the order made clear that nothing prevented other departments or entities from seeking to recover additional funds.

In a court filing in March, Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, said the forfeiture demand of $177bn was "grossly overstated - and misleading - even for a case of this magnitude".

Madoff pleaded guilty in March to charges that his exclusive investment advisory business was actually a massive illegal pyramid scheme. Federal prosecutors say Madoff orchestrated perhaps the largest financial swindle in history.

US attorney Lev Dassin, who released a copy of the order on Friday night, plans to seek a 150-year prison term at Madoff's sentencing today. Sorkin has argued for a 12-year term.


According to Friday's order, the government also settled claims against Madoff's wife.

The government obtained Ruth Madoff's interest in all property, including more than $80 million worth that she had claimed was hers. The order left her $2.5m in assets.

The agreements strip the Madoffs of all their interest in properties belonging to them worth a total of nearly $22m.

Other seized assets include accounts at Cohmad Securities, valued at almost $50m, and at Wachovia Bank, valued at just more than $13m; and tens of millions of dollars in loans.

At the time of Madoff's arrest, fictitious account statements showed thousands of clients had $65bn. But investigators say he never traded securities, and instead used money from new investors to pay returns to existing clients - the classic Ponzi scheme.

Prosecutors said the total losses, which span decades, had not been calculated. - AP