Madoff's Missing Statue Found—With Note!

Photograph, at left, of Madoff's Palm Beach estate from the AP; photograph, at right, of the statue with note from AP/Palm Beach Post

Earlier this week, scamming investor Bernard Madoff's housekeeper reported that a $10,000 statue was stolen from his Palm Beach estate. Yesterday, the Palm Beach police found it—near the Palm Beach Country Club, where Madoff reportedly wooed many investors to join his Ponzi scheme—and the statue had a note attached.

The Palm Beach Post reports the statue of copper statue of two lifeguards (he was once a lifeguard in Far Rockaway) was found by two pest control company (!) employees who saw it in the bushes. It had a note reading, "Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return Stolen Property to rightful owners. Signed by - The Educators." Palm Beach police captain George Frick said, "There is a little symbolism that it was left on the west side of the country club." And when the PB Post told him about the 2004 German film, The Edukators, "in which anti-capitalist activists break into the homes of rich people, move furniture around and leave notes that say 'the days of plenty are over,'" Frick said, "Interesting."

Yesterday, Madoff turned over a list of his assets to the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the list will not be made public. Columbia Law professor John Coffee told Bloomberg TV, “I think one of the fears here is that much of this money may be in offshore funds. There is the danger that foreign regulators and foreign creditors may seek to seize that money if the names and sources are made public.”