Madoff sightings cause heads to turn in New York

By Martha Graybow

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even in a city accustomed to notorious figures in its midst, the latest sighting of Bernard Madoff caused heads to turn.

Madoff made a surprise court appearance on Monday that attracted throngs of reporters, photographers and tourists to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan for a glimpse of him.

If they were seeking answers to what the government alleges could be a $50 billion investment fraud, they were once again disappointed.

The onetime Nasdaq chairman and money manager said nothing, either in court or after the hearing, wearing the same calm look on his face he displayed when he was last sighted outside his apartment building in December.

The accused swindler -- ordered to appear in court at a hastily convened hearing on Monday after federal prosecutors sought to have him jailed for allegedly violating his bail terms -- was silent during the one-hour proceeding.

The gray-haired Wall Street veteran wore a charcoal gray suit and dark tie to the hearing, held at the same courthouse where accused mafia bosses, terrorism suspects and other famous white-collar defendants, such as homemaking entrepreneur Martha Stewart, have also appeared.

The judge made no immediate ruling on the request by federal prosecutors to revoke Madoff's bail. The government argued Madoff and his wife mailed valuables such as jewellery and watches to friends and family members, in violation of his bail terms.

After the hearing, as reporters waited for Madoff outside the 26th floor courtroom, federal marshals ordered the media to leave the area.