The spoils of Bernie Madoff's spoiled life were sold at auction in Miami Saturday, ending a frenzied day of bidding over the multi-billion dollar Ponzi schemer's belongings.
Everything from monogrammed underwear to side tables to a vintage Rolex watch was up for grabs in 275 lots of household goods from Madoff's and his wife Ruth's former homes in Palm Beach and New York -- and much of it sold, netting a tidy $400,000 for a restitution fund for Madoff's victims.
Property, boats and cars were sold at previous Madoff auctions, but that didn't dampen the rabid enthusiasm Saturday at Miami Beach Convention Center, where U.S. Marshals oversaw proceedings and about 600 online bidders battled 150 gathered in person.
Items sold included 14 pairs of monogrammed boxer shorts, size large ($200), four vintage binoculars ($1,050), an Alex Katz painting ($137,000), a tin sculpture of a bull ($5,000), an Edward Weston nude ($4,600), a 1952 Rolex watch ($31,000), a lot of engraved pens, ashtray, and bowl ($1,000), a lot of fishing lures ($300), and a golf bag with Ruth Madoff's country club membership tag ($150).
Even a box of napkin rings fetched $600.
So far, about $103 million in property and cash assets have been recovered by officials, but that hardly pays Madoff's tab to the swindled.
Before the 73-year-old pled guilty to 11 federal felonies in March of 2009, earning a 150-year sentence, a court appointed trustee estimated that investors with his Wall Street advisory service lost about $18 billion dollars to his scam.
Local
The Madoff circus, however, may not have seen its last day at Miami Beach Convention Center. One bidder identified himself as working on behalf of a French visual artist, who plans to use the items in a Madoff-themed exhibition at next year's Art Basel contemporary art fair.
