Swindler Madoff's personal items sold off to aid victims

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 100 items belonging to notorious swindler Bernard Madoff and his wife were auctioned off on Saturday to help repay his victims, with many fetching far more than their estimated value set by the U.S. government.

Jewellery dealers, souvenir hunters and collectors swooped down on everything from wife Ruth's furs and diamond-encrusted bracelets to Bernie's old New York Mets baseball jacket and fishing tackle box at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

Someone bought a pair of otherwise ordinary Igloo brand coolers for $250 (150 pounds), while another paid $2,200 for a Mont Blanc wallet with the monogram of "BM." The government's estimate was $70 to $100.

The Mets jacket went for a cool $14,500 -- presumably prized for its "Madoff" and "MADF" lettering.

Madoff, who bilked investors for decades of as much as $65 billion in a Ponzi scheme, was sentenced to 150 years in prison in June.

"It was just horrific, what he did," said a woman from Edison, New Jersey, who asked that her name not be used.

"But I did think I might find a nice piece of jewellery for a decent price, while helping out in a way by contributing to the victims getting repaid," she said, referring to the sale's beneficiaries through the Department of Justice.

Lester Miller, a 77-year-old businessman from St. Louis, bought a bracelet adorned with 15 charms, including a lantern, lobster, shell, lighthouse, anchor and boat.