Recouping Madoff cash ‘more difficult’ after friend’s death

THE death of Jeffry Picower, accused of profiting more than $7 billion (€7.7bn) from the investment schemes of his longtime friend Bernard Madoff, will make it more difficult for suing investors to recoup their money, attorneys have said.

Picower’s wife, Barbara, on Sunday discovered the 67-year-old’s body at the bottom of the pool at their oceanside mansion and pulled him from the water with help from a housekeeper, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Medical Centre. Palm Beach police are investigating the death as a drowning, but have not ruled out anything over the cause of death.

Picower had been accused by jilted investors of being the biggest beneficiary of Madoff’s schemes.

In a lawsuit to recover Madoff’s assets, trustee Irving Picard demanded Picower return more than $7bn in bogus profits. In an emailed statement, Picard said only that “litigation will continue”.

Jerry Reisman, an attorney representing about 26 victims, said Picower’s death does make it more difficult for the trustee to recoup some of the money.

“We won’t be able to hear from his own words whether he was complicit,” Reisman said.

Picower suffered from Parkinson’s disease and had “heart-related issues,” said family attorney William D Zabel. He described Picower’s health as “poor”.

Picower’s body showed no visible injuries, said Joseph Sekula, spokesman for the Palm Beach Fire Department.

Picower and his wife started the Picower Foundation in 1989, which has given millions to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Human Rights First and the New York Public Library. It also funded diabetes research at Harvard Medical School.

Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence after he admitted losing billions of dollars for thousands of clients over a half-century career that saw him rise to be a Nasdaq chairman.