Madoff’s jacket sells for $14,500 in NYC auction, wife’s diamond earrings fetch $70,000

Bernard Madoff’s jacket, watch auctioned in NYC

NEW YORK — Items once belonging to Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff (MAY’-dawf) and his wife have fetched as much as 20 times their estimated value at a New York City auction.

The fallen financier’s blue satin New York Mets baseball jacket with his surname stitched on the back was valued at up to $720 but sold for $14,500. Two pairs of Ruth Madoff’s diamond dangle earrings sold for $70,000 each, far beyond their pre-sale estimates of $9,800 and $21,400.

But the top-priced item in the sale was Bernard Madoff’s Rolex watch, estimated to sell for about $80,000. An anonymous buyer picked it up for only $65,000.

Madoff is serving 150 years in prison after pleading guilty in a multibillion-dollar fraud that burned thousands of investors.

Proceeds from the auction will be divided among his victims.

On the Net:

Madoff auction catalog: www.txauction.com

Madoff auction online: www.proxibid.com

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — As Bernard Madoff sits in a North Carolina prison serving a 150-year sentence, remnants of the fallen financier’s once lavish lifestyle are going on the auction block at a Manhattan hotel.

Around 200 items — ranging from a half-used sticky pad to expensive jewelry — are being auctioned off Saturday in the grand ballroom at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.

The items were taken from Madoff’s homes on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, in the Hamptons and in Palm Beach, Fla., which federal authorities seized after he was convicted of defrauding investors.

They include dishes, pens and stationery, boogie boards emblazoned with the 71-year-old’s last name, and a Rolex nicknamed the “Prisoner Watch.”

Proceeds from the auction will be divided among Madoff’s victims.

On the Net:

Madoff auction catalog: www.txauction.com

Madoff auction online: www.proxibid.com