By Frank James

Ruth Madoff, wife of federally convicted Ponzi scammer Bernard Madoff, was officially evicted from her $7 million Upper East Side Manhattan Penthouse apartment today by U.S. Marshals, part of the agreement she made with federal officials in her effort to not be stripped of all the assets she shared with her husband.

The Associated Press reports:

Proceeds from a sale of the property and its contents could be used to help reimburse those who lost billions of dollars investing with Madoff before he confessed to running a Ponzi scheme.


U.S. Marshal Joseph Guccione said the marshals arrived at the property at noon with a court order permitting them to take custody of the apartment and to make anyone living there move out.

Guccione said Madoff's wife Ruth had been advised in advance of the marshals' plans and was leaving the residence and surrendering all personal property.

"She will be leaving," he said at midday. "Restitution for the victims is the government's top priority."


Typically, the U.S. Marshals Service changes all locks and secures a property when it seizes a location.

By about 1 p.m., the 67-year-old Ruth Madoff had left. It was not immediately clear where she went to live.

5:57 - July 2, 2009

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