Madoff prosecutors target wife’s assets

NEW YORK – Prosecutors probing Bernard Madoff’s massive fraud are determined to leave his wife with almost nothing after telling a Manhattan court that they consider more than $100 million in assets, most of it listed in her name, the fruits of her husband’s crimes.

The government even included a $39,000 Steinway piano and $65,000 in silverware, both owned by Ruth Madoff, in items it said it will try to force the Madoffs to forfeit. The list was in a three-page document filed in U.S. District Court late Sunday.

Brenda Sharton, a lawyer with a Boston firm representing several burned investors, said the government’s aggressive approach with Ruth Madoff isn’t surprising.

“I don’t think it’s unusual … given the magnitude of the fraud,” she said. “It would be unusual if they didn’t go after whatever assets they can get.”

If prosecutors get their way, the Madoffs will have to give up all their assets, including three properties listed solely in Ruth Madoff’s name: a $7 million Manhattan penthouse, an $11 million home in Palm Beach, Fla., and a $1 million home in Cap d’Antibes, France. The government also said Madoff and his wife should forfeit:

•$10 million in furnishings for all of the homes, along with accounts in Ruth Madoff’s name that hold $17 million in cash and $45 million in securities.

•“Bull,” a $7 million yacht in France and its $1.5 million boat slip, and “Little Bull,” a $320,000 Montauk boat, all in Ruth Madoff’s name, as well as a $2.2 million fishing boat in Palm Beach, Fla., that is in Madoff’s name.

•A 1999 Mercedes SLK convertible in Florida, a 2001 Mercedes station wagon and a 2004 Volkswagen, estimated to be worth a total of $25,000.

Ruth Madoff has not been charged in the massive swindle. But Karl Buch, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said the government filing shows prosecutors believe she knew about the scam.