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Miami Herald Bernard Madoff's South Florida property was grabbed by the government on Wednesday, as federal authorities took over an antique yacht and a smaller motor boat -- part of an effort to recoup assets to pay back his swindled investors.
Madoff's 55-foot yacht named ''Bull'' was seized from a Fort Lauderdale marina, while a 24-foot motor boat was taken from a storage facility in Palm City, said Barry Golden, a Miami-based spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service.
The yacht, a 1969 Rybovich, is worth between $800,000 and $2 million, he said. It was taken from Roscioli Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale, where it had been kept since 1996.
''The boat is in extremely good condition,'' Golden said. ``A lot of money has gone into maintaining that boat. It was totally refurbished, with new engines. It's like somebody took a scrub brush and a bottle of 409 or bleach and washed it everyday.''
The second boat, a Pathfinder, was seized from a storage facility at Heritage Square Industrial Park in Palm City, Golden said.
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Madoff, 70, is in jail pending sentencing for pleading guilty to charges he bilked billions from investors in what could be the biggest scam in Wall Street history. He faces a maximum sentence of 150 years behind bars.
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Court documents filed by Madoff's attorneys have indicated Madoff and his wife had up to $826 million in assets at the end of last year -- including the boats. Madoff also has an $11 million, five-bedroom mansion in Florida's ritzy Palm Beach Island.
If prosecutors get their way, Madoff and his wife Ruth, who has not been charged, will have to give up all their assets, including a $7 million Manhattan penthouse bought in 1984, the Palm Beach home, a $1 million home in Cap d' Antibes, France and a $3 million luxury home on New York's Long Island. The government also wants Madoff and his wife to forfeit $10 million in furnishings for all the homes and luxury cars, among other items.
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