Going, Going, Gone! Madoff Victims Auction Treasures
Bernie Madoff's victims are auctioning off treasures to stay afloat.
March 19, 2009— -- The 200-year-old gilded French clock with its matching candelabras had graced a Coral Gables, Fla., mansion until this week.
The prized antique and a host of other gems, literally and figuratively, were put on the auction block by some of the victims of the $65 billion Ponzi scheme masterminded by Bernie Madoff.
Also up for sale: a massive emerald necklace and a 16-carat diamond ring that once belonged to a wealthy South Florida woman.
"They're selling it because they woke up one morning and found out they're broke," said Jay Kodner, owner of Kodner Galleries in Dania Beach, Fla.
The auction included two dozen items put up by five people who entrusted their fortune to Madoff, who now sits in a jail cell, convicted of fraud on an epic scale.
Selling the high-end items like the French clock will help his victims keep the lifestyle they are accustomed to, for at least a little while longer.
The owners of the auctioned items were some of the richest people in America, but are now so singed by what happened to their fortunes they've insisted their identities be kept secret.
"There are people that have a $30,000-a-month living expense," Kodner told "Good Morning America" today.
That emerald necklace and diamond ring? They sold for a combined $80,000. The French clock went for $14,000.
But Madoff's scam didn't just touch the rich and famous.
