UPDATE 4-U.S. judge orders Madoff assets secured for seizure

* Judge orders Madoff assets secured for forfeiture

* Interim trustee to be appointed in bankruptcy case (Adds Madoff lawyer's request to resolve competing interests)

By Grant McCool

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge blocked the transfer of the personal wealth of swindler Bernard Madoff and his wife because it could be subject to forfeiture as various parties compete to lock down the assets for distribution to defrauded investors.

The order on Monday by Judge Denny Chin, who oversees the criminal case against Madoff, came on the same day a bankruptcy court judge approved the appointment of an interim trustee to coordinate efforts to recover the former investment adviser's property and money.

Madoff pleaded guilty in March to running the biggest investment fraud in Wall Street history.

U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Friday that Chin should restrain the Madoff assets so they are not part of any proceeding in bankruptcy court.

At a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York on Monday, Judge Burton Lifland said that activities by various authorities to recover Madoff assets had been "disjointed and uncoordinated."

U.S. prosecutors, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the court-appointed trustee liquidating Madoff's brokerage firm and groups of investors are among those seeking to find and recover billions in assets, which include homes, boats, cars and business interests.