Feds sell spoils of Madoff's lavish life

NEW YORK — Anyone wanting to walk in the shoes of fallen financier Bernard Madoff was in luck Saturday: Thousands of belongings from his New York City penthouse, including his used shoes, went on the auction block.

An anonymous bidder paid the highest price of the auction — $550,000 — for a 10.5-carat diamond engagement ring that belonged to Madoff's wife, Ruth. The winning bid topped the $300,000 minimum pre-sale estimate.

Ruth Madoff's French diamond earrings fetched the next highest price. Valued at $100,000 to $137,500, they went for $135,000 to an undisclosed buyer.

The man who became a symbol of greed and deceit on Wall Street also had a lavish collection of watches. One of his vintage steel Rolex "Moon Phase" watches sold for $67,500, topping a $60,000 minimum estimate.

The sale started Saturday morning at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, with an auctioneer from Texas-based Gaston & Sheehan rattling off lots at a tongue-twisting speed all day and into the evening.

Buyers responded at fever pitch.

They raised their hands to signal a bid — accompanied by bloodcurdling shouts from bid-spotters marking a winning price.

Their swaggering style — as if herding bulls instead of selling Madoff's artsy ones — seemed appropriate for an auction of the belongings of a Wall Street trader who cherished the winning bull in every form. He bought statues and paintings of them and even named his boats "Bull," "Sitting Bull" and "Little Bull."

A leather bull foot stool — including a tail that had broken off — sold for $3,300, against a pre-sale estimate of $250 to $360.

While many of the more than 400 lots included luxury items, the Madoffs' penthouse did have touches of culture.

A 1917 Steinway grand piano from their living room went for $42,000 — six times the minimum estimate of $7,000. The buyer was an 81-year-old Long Island real estate executive.

"I've got loads of pianos, but this one has history — it'll make an interesting conversation piece," said John Rodger, an amateur pianist who will keep the Steinway in his home in East Islip.

An oil painting by the late American artist Frederick Carl Frieseke sold for $47,500, against a pre-sale estimate of $20,000 to $45,000.