Madoff’s assets seized to recoup losses

US authorities seized disgraced financier Bernard Madoff’s Palm Beach mansion, his vintage yacht and a smaller boat, in a bid to recoup assets to compensate the investors he swindled.

Barry Golden, a spokesman for the US Marshals Service, said about five marshals arrived at the Florida mansion late on Wednesday, hours after the boats were seized.

Authorities spent hours securing the mansion, changing the locks and conducting an inventory of the property, which Palm Beach County records show had a taxable value of $9.3 million (e6.9m) last year.