Madoff didn't realize mailing breached order: lawyer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff "simply did not realize" that mailing valuable personal items to family and friends violated his bail conditions, his lawyers said in court papers on Wednesday.

U.S. prosecutors earlier ramped up their efforts for a judge to jail Madoff, 70, and revoke his bail. They said he and his wife Ruth Madoff had mailed 13 watches, a diamond necklace, an emerald ring and cuff links worth more than $1 million in violation of a court order in late December.

Madoff, who is under house arrest and surveillance, was arrested and charged last month after authorities said he confessed to an investment scam that may have bilked investors of as much as $50 billion.

Madoff's lawyers said in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that Madoff's restrictive bail conditions "are more than adequate" and he posed no danger to anyone.

(Reporting by Grant McCool)