Ruth Madoff withdrew $15M before husband’s arrest

The wife of accused Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff pulled millions out of a brokerage account only days before her husband was charged with securities fraud – including $10 million on the eve of his arrest, Massachusetts’ top securities regulator said Wednesday.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said Ruth Madoff withdrew $5.5 million on Nov. 25 and $10 million on Dec. 10, according to reports produced by Cohmad Securities, a firm co-owned by her husband.

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Ruth Madoff’s role in her husband’s alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme has been a subject of much debate. To date, she has not been charged with any crime, and though she currently lives with her husband, who is under house arrest in their Upper East Side penthouse, she can come and go as she pleases.

Attorney Ira Sorkin, who represents both Madoffs, has said the financier admitted to his wife and their two sons only on Dec. 10 that his multibillion-dollar hedge fund was an elaborate Ponzi scheme. The 70-year-old mogul was arrested and charged with securities fraud on Dec. 11. Madoff told authorities he acted alone in confessing to the fraud, prosecutors have said.

But the revelation of Ruth Madoff’s withdrawals raises fresh questions about what she knew and when she knew it.

The information about her withdrawals was made public today as part of a lawsuit that Calvin brought against Cohmad Securities in an effort to revoke its Massachusetts brokerage license.

For years, Cohmad Securities, partly owned by Madoff, was a major conduit into his Ponzi scheme and received monthly payments from him for “professional services”, “brokerage services” and “fees for account supervision,” Galvin’s office said.

The payments totaled $67 million and made up 84 percent of Cohmad’s total income over the last eight years, the documents show.

That sum does not include commissions paid to broker Robert M. Jaffe, according to the complaint, because Cohmad did not respond to requests for that information.

Jaffe – a member of the wealthy Shapiro clan, major philanthropic donors in Boston and Palm Beach, Fla. – appeared under subpoena before Massachusetts regulators last week, but invoked his rights under the Fifth Amendment, declining to answer questions about his business, Cohmad, or his connection to Madoff Investments, according to the complaint.

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• Cohmad Securities, Robert Jaffe face tough questions about Madoff ties – January 15, 2009
• Prosecutor: Madoff sent emeralds and diamonds to relatives, friends – January 7, 2009
• Madoff used social, family networks to rake in billions – December 28, 2008
• Lymphoma foundation escapes Madoff wrecking ball – December 20, 2008
• Trading legend Bernard Madoff charged with ‘massive’ securities fraud – December 11, 2008
• Prosecutors say they found signed Madoff checks in office desk – January 8, 2009
• Are Madoff’s attorneys cutting a deal? – January 13, 2009
• Bernard Madoff cultivated ties to the Washington establishment – December 16, 2008
• After years of complaints about Madoff, Harry Markopolos is vindicated – January 5, 2009
• Muckety tracker – Madoff associate Robert Jaffe ordered to testify – January 27, 2009