Palm Beach billionaire and philanthropist Jeffry Picower, described as the biggest beneficiary of Bernard Madoff’s fraud, died on Sunday after he was found lying at the bottom of the pool at his home, police said.
Police were investigating the death of the 67-year-old investor as a drowning, media reported.
Picower was pulled unconscious from the swimming pool of his multimillion-dollar oceanside home by his wife and a housekeeper. He was later pronounced dead, the Palm Beach Post reported, quoting police and Fire Rescue officials.
Picower and his wife Barbara were friends of Wall Street financier Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to running a US$65 billion Ponzi scheme.
The trustee handling the Madoff fraud case, Irving Picard, said in court documents filed in US 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said: “Based upon the trustee’s investigation to date, Picower was the biggest beneficiary of Madoff’s scheme, having withdrawn either directly or through the entities he controlled more than [US]$7.2 billion of other investors’ money.”
Picower was being sued for the US$7.2 billion, US$2 billion more than the trustee in the case demanded in May.
The Palm Beach Post said Picower was not breathing when he was pulled from the pool and paramedics tried for 20 minutes to revive him.
Local WPTV quoted the Palm Beach fire chief as saying he was told by Picower’s wife and housekeeper that the elderly investor had gone swimming in the pool of his house and that 15 minutes later they found him lying at the bottom.
Marcia Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the Picowers’ attorney, William Zabel, said the family was devastated by the loss.
“Mr Picower did have health issues. He suffered from Parkinsons disease and did have heart-related medical issues,” she said.
Madoff found many investors for his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme in the wealthy Palm Beach community, where he also had a home that has since been seized along with other assets.
The collapse of the scheme last December devastated families and charitable foundations in the sunny beachside playground, one of the US’ richest towns.
The scandal led to a number of suicides among participating investors. In December, Frenchman Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, cofounder of money manager Access International, was found dead with his wrists slashed, reportedly distraught over losing up to US$1.4 billion in client money to Madoff’s fraud.
In February, former British soldier William Foxton, 65, killed himself after losing his life savings in the scheme.
Picower was listed 371st and worth US$1 billion on the latest published Forbes list.
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