US justice to seize Madoff and wife's goods

AFP - The US government is seeking to seize more than 90 million dollars in cash and bonds, homes, yachts and a grand piano belonging to disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff and his wife, prosecutors said Monday.

A filing in a US district court in New York outlined 18 types of fixed and liquid assets ordered seized by prosecutors after Madoff, 70, pleaded guilty Thursday to 11 counts criminal charges in one of the biggest financial frauds in history.

The assets included all of Madoff's interest in Cohmad Securities Corporation, and his wife's interests in the company, "including but not limited to, municipal bonds valued at approximately 45 million dollars," the filing read.

It also seeks seizure of some 17 million dollars in cash.

Other items pointed to the couple's lavish lifestyle, including their Manhattan penthouse, homes in upstate New York and Palm Beach, Florida and their "Chateau des Pins" villa in Cap d'Antibes.

The properties are worth a combined 22 million dollars, according to documents filed last week by Madoff's lawyer.

There were also luxury vehicles, sport yachts and a sport fishing boat known as "Sitting Bull," estimated to be worth 430,812 dollars, a 65,000-dollar silverware set and a Steinway piano valued at 39,000 dollars.

Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, was jailed pending sentencing at a hearing set for June. His lawyers have said they intend to appeal the revocation of their client's bail.