Soon the world will see whether Madoff's luxury penthouse apartment — perhaps the only former crime scene featuring four fireplaces, a wraparound terrace and closet space galore — also will hit the jackpot on the Manhattan real estate market.
The U.S. Marshals Service plans to put the 4,000-square-foot duplex in a 12-story doorman building on the Upper East Side up for sale this week, betting that exclusivity outweighs notoriety.
Madoff "is behind bars," deputy U.S. Marshal Roland Ubaldo said during a tour Tuesday. "We believe the cloud has passed."
The marshals also gave The Associated Press a look inside the disgraced financier's 8,700-square-foot, Mexican-tiled estate in Palm Beach, Fla., a yacht and two smaller boats docked in Fort Lauderdale — property it hopes to sell off to raise tens of millions of dollars to help reimburse victims.
Prices for the New York and Florida home won't be set until brokers are selected this week. His seaside beach house on southeastern Long Island was listed for $8.75 million.
Madoff estimated his Manhattan apartment was worth $7 million, the Florida home $11 million and the boat $2.2 million.
Under a court order stripping the Madoffs of most of their wealth, the marshals also want to bring in more money by auctioning off the boats and home furnishings, including a baby grand piano and works of art.
Madoff, 71, was sentenced in June to 150 years in prison for masterminding a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
Harley-Davidson may put plant in TennesseeInvestor Report: Bankruptcy Filings
