Once famous as a shrewd New York financier, Bernie Madoff’s arrest for running a Ponzi scheme in December 2008 made headlines. His subsequent convictions on eleven felony counts led to his imprisonment for 150 years and the confiscation of his personal fortune, but left behind billions of dollars worth of unpaid losses on the part of the victims of his scheme. As a result, the sale of Madoff’s four luxury homes has been closely watched by the public as well as his victims who are in line to receive a portion of the proceeds in reimbursement for their losses. Two homes have already sold; the other two are still on the market after asking price reductions, perhaps due to the struggling housing market or buyers reluctant to link themselves with the notorious Madoff name.
A luxury vacation apartment in Cap d’Antibes was seized by federal agents in March and sold for $1.48 million, a reasonable price for the three-bedroom retreat in the French Riviera. Located in the Chateau de Pins development, the home featured an obstructed ocean view and was located in an upstairs villa with a terra cotta tile roof. It was valued at around $1.6 million, according to the real estate agent who conducted the sale.
Madoff’s Long Island beach house sold for $9.41 million in September 2009, well over its initial asking price of $8.75 million. Located in Montauk, N.Y., the four-bedroom house offers spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean from its 1.2 acre lot. Constructed in order to provide panoramic vistas of the ocean from every room, the house also features an in-ground swimming pool just off the 1,300 square foot deck and patio area. Measuring in at 3,000 square feet, the house is located just 150 feet from the beach; Federal zoning laws currently prohibit new construction so close to the surf, so this property is a rare find in this desirable area. The house also features an increased risk of flood, making it a high-risk investment.
The Manhattan penthouse property comprises the top two floors of an apartment building on the Upper East Side; at 4,000 feet, it is sizable by New York standards, but surprisingly modest in comparison to the Madoff fortune. Four fireplaces, three walk-in closets, and a wraparound terrace are premium features of the property. White marble floors adorn one of the two bathrooms, and a winding staircase connects the top floor living area with the master suite on the floor below. Originally offered at $9.9 million, the home is now offered at $8.9 million by Sotheby’s International Realty.
Despite an attempt by Ruth Madoff to shield the property from seizure by claiming it as her primary residence, the Madoff home in Palm Beach is also on the market. Madoff’s Palm Beach property is one of the most luxurious of his four residences; offering 6500 square feet of interior living space, the home originally listed at $8.49 million. The asking price has since been slashed to $7.9 million due to lack of serious interest. The waterfront property sits on a half-acre lot and features five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and an eighty-foot boat dock where Madoff’s yacht was often in evidence.
Proceeds of the previous sales are being held by the Justice Department; all money received for the properties will go toward compensating the victims of Madoff’s fraudulent financial transactions. According to U.S. Marshal Joseph Guccione, the Justice Department intends to sell the homes as quickly as possible in order to “minimize the amount of time they remain in our inventory and maximize the return to the victims."