Madoff property sold as authorities look at real estate bought by disgraced financiers sons

One of the homes belonging to disgraced financier Bernie Madoff has been sold for more than the asking price of $8.75 million after a flurry of interest in the property.

The Montauk property in the swish Hamptons, located on a beach with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean, attracted an onslaught of responses and numerous bids despite being a fairly modest piece of real estate, according to Anne Lacombe, spokeswoman for the Corcoran Group, that sold the property on behalf of the authorities who are trying to re-coup some money to pay back victims of Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi style scheme.

She refused to say who has bought the beach house but confirmed that the highest bid was accepted after several buyers expressed an interest.

It has sold after being on the market for just two weeks. The buyer is paying cash.

The US government is also selling two other homes owned by Madoff.

A 4,000-square-foot duplex penthouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, is listed for $9.9 million with Sotheby’s International Realty. It has drawn several seriously interested potential buyers, said Anne Corey, the broker representing that property.

Also for sale is Madoff’s 8,750 square foot home in Palm Beach, Florida, which is listed for $8.49 million by Corcoran as well as his cars, boats and personal effects.

Buyer interest in the Montauk home may have been stoked by the notoriety of Madoff, and a decision by US marshals to allow TV and still cameras into the home for a tour.

Now the authorities are looking into property owned by his family.

In particular they are looking to see if money used by Madoff's sons to buy luxury property, including a $6.5 million beach retreat in the island resort of Nantucket, amounted to fraud.

If so that property could also be sold to pay back his fraud victims.

About 2,500 people lost a total of some $13 billion at the hands of Madoff, who spent at least two decades passing himself off as a legitimate fund manager while doing virtually no genuine trading.

The 71 year old is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud, theft and international money laundering.