Ruth Madoff’s Lawyers Try to Have Her Retain Assets

Ruth Madoff’s Lawyers Try to Have Her Retain Assets
By DIANA B. HENRIQUES
Published: March 2, 2009
Lawyers for Bernard L. Madoff have asked that prosecutors be barred from seizing the New York City apartment of the Madoffs and $62 million in bonds and cash that they say belong to Mr. Madoff’s wife, Ruth, and “are unrelated to the alleged Madoff fraud.”

The request was acknowledged, but not granted, in court documents filed on Monday both by federal prosecutors and the trustee overseeing the liquidation of Mr. Madoff’s estate for the benefit of his former customers.

Mr. Madoff’s assets were frozen in December after he was arrested on charges of operating a worldwide Ponzi scheme, with losses he reportedly said were as high as $50 billion. His wife agreed to a voluntary asset freeze in January.

Since then, a court-appointed trustee, Irving Picard of Baker & Hostetler, has worked to identify and sell assets of the estate.

In an application on Monday to Judge Louis L. Stanton of United States District Court in Manhattan, Mr. Picard asked that Mr. Madoff be allowed to “voluntarily transfer” other assets — including his stake in his brokerage firm, artwork and corporate tickets for various entertainment events — to the trustee for liquidation for the benefit of his former customers.

Judge Stanton granted the request, opening the way for a series of asset sales that could increase the value of the estate. Mr. Picard has been trying for more than two months to find a buyer for the legitimate operations of Mr. Madoff’s firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. His application may indicate that a buyer has been found — an event that may provide a substantial infusion of cash into the estate, which so far totals less than $1 billion.

Judge Stanton did not lift the asset freeze covering the real