Jeffry Picower, a Florida philanthropist and friend of Bernard Madoff, has died. He was found dead in his pool on Sunday. Reuters reports that Jeffrey Picower is alleged to have benefited from the Madoff ponzi scheme. He is being sued for $7.2 billion by the trustee handling the Madoff fraud cause.
The trustee handling the Madoff fraud case, Irving Picard, said in court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York late last month that Picower, newly listed as one of the 400 wealthiest Americans by Forbes magazine, was complicit in the fraud.
Part of Picard's filing said: "Based upon the trustee's investigation to date, Picower was the biggest beneficiary of Madoff's scheme, having withdrawn either directly or through the entities he controlled more than $7.2 billion of other investors' money."
Picower was being sued for the $7.2 billion, $2 billion more than the trustee in the case demanded in May.
He was listed 371st and worth $1 billion on the latest published Forbes list.
Palm Beach police say they are doing a standard investigation of the drowning. Take a look:
