Feds Looking to Freeze Ruth Madoff's Assets
By DANIEL MACHT
Updated 1:24 PM CST, Sun, Mar 15, 2009
Bernie Madoff said he acted alone in perpetrating a $65 billion swindle. Federal investigators aren't taking his word for it.
The Feds are said to be "working around the clock" to freeze $93 million in assets belonging to Madoff wife's, Ruth, in case that wealth stemmed from her husband's fraud, the New York Post reported.
In an exclusive, the Post reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is in talks with Federal prosecutors in Manhattan and will ask a judge to freeze Madoff's assets as early as next week.
Sources told the paper that they wanted to prevent Ruth Madoff from trying to hide her money.
"You do not need the case to be nailed down, you just need to be able to convince the judge that there is a strong probability that the funds in question came from crime," a source said.
While Mrs. Madoff volunteered to freeze the assets after her husband was arrested, her agreement wouldn't hold any water in court if should she choose to re-neg, the source said.
Ruth Madoff first came under suspicion for having removed about $15.5 million from two wire transfers only days before her husband's arrest.
Her lawyer, Peter Chavkin, declined comment to the Post.
Last week, Bernard Madoff plead guilt to 11 felony counts and was lead away in handcuffs to a detention facility while awaiting sentencing.
He said that his family was not involved in his Ponzi Scheme.
First Published: Mar 15, 2009 6:14 AM CST
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