Madoff confinement won't fix real estate woes
June 29, 2009 06:00PM
Bernard Madoff
As Bernard Madoff heads off to prison to serve a 150-year sentence for a Ponzi scheme, he will give up his penthouse at 133 East 64th Street. That leaves his wife Ruth searching for a new place to live, and she has had trouble finding landlords willing to take her on as a tenant, the New York Post reported today. The proceeds of the Upper East Side co-op sale will go toward paying back the victims of his crimes. When Madoff's bond was originally put up in December, the co-op was valued at $7 million, but as the housing market continues its downward plunge, Madoff's victims may find themselves losing out.
Ronald Gold, president of Goldappraisal.com and past president of the New York City chapter of the American Society of Appraisers, told The Real Deal in April that the apartment is probably worth between $4.2 million and $6 million. But Madoff's other real estate, including a 1.2-acre beachfront home in Montauk, may be worth more than its appraised value, brokers said.
But even as scandal may send the value of Madoff's real estate shooting up, his victims have taken a hit on their properties.
Marisa Noel Brown and Matthew Brown, who lost money with Madoff, put their 12 East 78th Street townhouse on the market in late May. Another Madoff victim, James Marsden, sold his Wainscott home for about $11.2 million in May. Brokers told The Real Deal in April that sales due to Madoff losses were starting to heat up in certain buildings.
Real estate professionals, including Larry Silverstein and Robert K. Futterman, also lost money with Madoff. Howard Lorber, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, is on the Madoff victim list, Vanity Fair recently reported. TRD
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Comments
Anonymous
He's not a scapegoat, you f'ing moron, he is a felon. I agree the governmnt was asleep at the wheel, but this jerkoff and his family ripped off us citizens for personal gain. He should rot in hell, the frigin cork soaker. He may as well be a member of the nazi party.
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 06/29/09
Anonymous
Poster of Comment #1 - You're a complete idiot.
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 06/29/09
Anonymous
Maybe it's me, but I can't imagine that there would be cache in owning the property of one of the biggest scumbags in recent history...
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 06/30/09
Anonymous
Some of the blame needs to be attributed to the greedy investors who plunked down everything they owned to get an 8 percent ROI. Didn't anyone wonder how this guy was pulling rabbits out of his hat for so long?
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 06/30/09
Anonymous
#5 I'm starting to lean more in your direction. I don't necessarily want to jump on the "blame the victim" bandwagon, but if something is too good to be true it probably isn't ; or however that expression goes ?
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 06/30/09
Anonymous
I have no problem with jumping on this bandwagon. Madoff investors thought he was "front loading" putting their trades ahead of completed trades to ensure a profit. They had no problem with this - and did the wink-wink to each other, because after all Madoff was rewarding them and fucking the other guy. When they found out the other guy getting fucked was actually them, then it was, oh! that scoundrel. Fuck 'em
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 06/30/09
Anonymous
you all seem so angry. Madoff got 150 yrs as a statement- victims want the death sentence but that will never happen Guy is pure evil but nothing more we can do to him. I just hope we dont spend taxpayer money to keep him in special confinement. I want him in gen pop
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 06/30/09