Bernard Madoff's Sons Latest Targets of Feds' Efforts to Seize Ill-gotten Loot
BY Thomas Zambito and Tracy Connor
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
The feds are going after the wallets of Bernie Madoff's sons.
In a court filing Tuesday, prosecutors listed some assets they want to seize now that the Ponzi schemer has pleaded guilty.
Among the items are a series of loans Madoff made to his sons, Andrew and Mark, senior executives at his fraudulent firm.
Andrew Madoff, 42, could be on the hook for $9.5 million - half loaned just months before his father's arrest. Mark Madoff, 44, is listed as owing $22 million.
The sons, both fly-fishermen, might have expected their father would not collect the debts when they came due in 2010 - but Uncle Sam is a different matter.
In addition, the government said it should get $2.6 million worth of jewelry owned by Madoff's wife, Ruth, and 35 sets of watches and cuff links that belonged to Bernie.
He won't need those in federal prison, where he's expected to spend the rest of his life after admitting last week he bilked investors out of $65 billion.
The feds are also going after the Madoffs' stake in Sterling Equity Partners, an affiliate of the parent company of the New York Mets, whose owner Fred Wilpon was a client of Madoff. His firm reportedly lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the scam.
Wilpon spokesman Richard Auletta said Ruth Madoff and Bernie's brother Peter Madoff had money in real estate funds and some venture capital investments and that any forfeiture would have "no material impact."
Prosecutors are also eying the Madoffs' interests in several other companies: P.J. Clarke's on the Hudson at the World Financial Center; the LaGuardia Corporate Center Association in Queens, run by real estate developer and Madoff friend Edward Blumenfeld; and Hoboken Radiology in New Jersey.
Prosecutors also urged an appeals court to keep Madoff locked up until his June 16 sentencing, saying he's a flight risk.
"Madoff has a well-established history of lying to advance his interests," Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Baroni wrote. A hearing on Madoff's petition to be freed until then is set for tomorrow.
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