Madoff assets auction raises $3 million

In less than a week, the US Marshals Service has raised $3 million for the victims of Bernard L. Madoff, selling off his personal assets including a teak-accented yacht, diamond earrings and a New York Mets jacket.

In less than a week, the US Marshals Service has raised $3 million  for the victims of Bernard L. Madoff, selling off his personal assets.

The agency plans to hold two or three more sales, though they haven't been scheduled yet. All the proceeds are to go to victims of Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.

On Tuesday, his three powerboats and a Mercedes-Benz fetched $1.1 million at an auction in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Last weekend dozens of items owned by Madoff and his wife Ruth, including her diamond earrings and his Mets sports jacket, raised more than $900,000 in Manhattan.

"All of these auctions are exceeding our expectations," Barry Golden, deputy US Marshals public information officer, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

The 71-year-old Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to using money from new clients to pay off old ones.

At the latest auction, "Bull," a 55-foot 1969 Rybovich Sportfish, sold for $700,000. "Sitting Bull," a 38-foot 2003 Shelter Island Runabout Sport, went for $320,000. "Little Bull," a 24-foot 2000 center-console boat from Maverick Boat Co, brought in $21,000.

In addition, a 1999 Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 convertible owned by Ruth Madoff sold for $30,000. The car had 12,827 miles on it.

By the time the auction got underway, 70 bidders had registered with National Liquidators, a Florida-based vessel-recovery company offering Madoff's boats and the Mercedes-Benz for the marshals service. The sale began at 4 pm New York time and took less than an hour, according to the service.

The company also took in $950,000 for a 61-foot 2003 Viking sport-fishing yacht owned by Frank DiPascali, former chief financial officer of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. He pleaded guilty to aiding Madoff in the Ponzi scheme. That money also will go to the fund for the victims.