Investor who got billions from Madoff is dead of heart attack

Oct 26, 2009, 22:44 GMT

New York - A man alleged to have withdrawn 7.2 billion dollars from Bernard Madoffs investment company was dead of a heart attack, raising more questions about the fate of investors trying to recoup losses from Madoff's Ponzo scheme.

Jeffry Picower, who was 67, suffered a heart attack in the pool of his luxury Palm Beach, Florida home on Sunday and drowned to death, the Palm Beach police department said Monday, according to Bloomberg news agency.

Picower was found at the bottom of the Palm Beach swimming pool, his wife, Barbara, told the rescue squad.

Picower had been named in one of the many suits from burned investors trying to regain losses from Madoff's 65-billion-dollar scheme in which he gave handsome pay-offs to earlier investors with money from new investors.

Through fake paperwork, Madoff perpetuated the appearance he had invested in actual stocks or financial instruments.

Madoff, 71, was arrested in December 2008 and pleaded guilty in March to running the scheme. He is serving a prison sentence of 150 years at a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

Picower reportedly withdrew more than 7.2 billion dollars over 20 years, including nearly 5 billion dollars in fake profits, according to Irving Picard, a lawyer who is liquidating Madoff's investment business.

Picard had sued Picower to recover the money, and said the lawsuit would continue against his estate.

Last week, a separate civil case filed against Madoff expanded its sites against two major US banks - JP Morgan Chase and and the Bank of New York Mellon Bank - for the role they played in administrating Madoff's money without asking questions about its provenance.