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FORT LAUDERDALE - Jailed financier Bernard Madoff's 55-foot luxury fishing boat and a smaller vessel have been seized by the U.S Marshals Service in Florida.
The boats were taken Wednesday from two South Florida marinas.
The fishing vessel, named Bull, is a 1969 Rybovich, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Barry Golden. It is worth $2.2 million. It had been docked at Roscioli Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale for at least a dozen years during the off-season, said marina owner Bob Roscioli.
Madoff owns a yacht kept in France that is also named Bull, authorities said. The smaller boat seized Tuesday is a 24 foot vessel named Little Bull.
Complete coverage of Madoff scandal Roscioli said the boat recently had undergone repairs, including a complete paint job and repairs to the keel. The bill, he said, was about $130,000 and was paid about a month before Madoff was indicted on fraud charges of running a $65 billion investment Ponzi scheme.
"I knew it was coming," Roscioli said about the yacht seizure. "It was just a matter of time."
Golden said the Marshals Service received the sealed seizure warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 23.
National Liquidators, the nation's largest boat recovery and auction company based in Fort Lauderdale, will take possession of the boats, pending further orders from the judge, Golden said.
"Now starts the process of seizing assets," Golden said.
Madoff is in jail, pending sentencing. He pleaded guilty to charges he swindled billions from investors in what could be the biggest fraud in Wall Street history. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 150 years behind bars.
Court documents state Madoff and his wife had $823 million in assets at the end of last year, including the boats.
The boats were taken Wednesday from two South Florida marinas.
The fishing vessel, named Bull, is a 1969 Rybovich, said U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Barry Golden. It is worth $2.2 million. It had been docked at Roscioli Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale for at least a dozen years during the off-season, said marina owner Bob Roscioli.
Madoff owns a yacht kept in France that is also named Bull, authorities said. The smaller boat seized Tuesday is a 24 foot vessel named Little Bull.
Complete coverage of Madoff scandal Roscioli said the boat recently had undergone repairs, including a complete paint job and repairs to the keel. The bill, he said, was about $130,000 and was paid about a month before Madoff was indicted on fraud charges of running a $65 billion investment Ponzi scheme.
"I knew it was coming," Roscioli said about the yacht seizure. "It was just a matter of time."
Golden said the Marshals Service received the sealed seizure warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 23.
National Liquidators, the nation's largest boat recovery and auction company based in Fort Lauderdale, will take possession of the boats, pending further orders from the judge, Golden said.
"Now starts the process of seizing assets," Golden said.
Madoff is in jail, pending sentencing. He pleaded guilty to charges he swindled billions from investors in what could be the biggest fraud in Wall Street history. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 150 years behind bars.
Court documents state Madoff and his wife had $823 million in assets at the end of last year, including the boats.
