1/7/09 Did Madoff Send Walter "Feeder Fund" Noel A Holiday Gift For All Those Victims That The Super-Swindler Riped Off ? (Updated - Photo Added)

Madoff's Gift Mailin'
Gets Feds Railin'

UNCLE BERNIE MAILED DIAMOND WATCHES, EMERALD RING TO RELATIVES

PROSECUTORS REVEAL MADOFF'S TREASURE TROVE

New York Post, NY

By BRUCE GOLDING

The treasure trove of valuables that accused Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff secretly mailed off to relatives on Christmas Eve includes diamond watches from Cartier and Tiffany, federal prosecutors revealed today.

One package recovered by the feds held 13 timepieces, a diamond necklace and an emerald ring, with a total value that "could exceed $1 million," prosecutors said in written arguments to get Madoff's bail revoked.

Other baubles that Madoff allegedly gave away in violation of a Dec. 18 court order include four diamond brooches, a diamond bracelet, a gold watch and a jade necklace.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are still trying to track down two other packages Madoff or his wife, Ruth, mailed out to his brother and a couple in Florida

In a letter to Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis, prosecutors Marc Litt and Lisa Baroni said Madoff's actions showed he needed to be locked up immediately to keep him from giving away any more loot stashed in his homes in Manhattan, Montauk, Florida and France.

"The continued release of the defendant presents a danger to the community of additional economic harm and further obstruction of justice," they wrote.

The 70-year-old former NASDAQ chairman - who has confessed to duping investors into a $50 billion pyramid scheme - is currently free on $10 million bond and living under house arrest in his East Side penthouse.

On Monday, defense lawyer Ira Sorkin argued in court that the items Madoff sent out were family "heirlooms" and that the entire episode was an innocent mistake.

A written defense response is due to be filed with the judge later today.

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