How much money is recoverd from Madoff auctions? CC by GDS Infographics/Flickr

Could you imagine spending years creating the greatest wine collection of your life? Just to watch it sold while you rot in prison? I guess you shouldn’t have conned innocent people out of their life savings, and used a portion of that money to create that collection. This is exactly what disgraced Bernard Madoff is having to experience right now.

Recovering funds for the victims

His beloved wine collection will be auctioned off straight from his wine rack to help replace the funds of those he stole billions of dollars from. All this while he sits behind bars serving a 150-year sentence at the Butner Meduim jail in North Carolina. The proceeds earned from the selling of his wine and spirits collection will go towards replacing the money from those he conned. The auction itself will take place tomorrow, May 18, 2011.

The listings, written by New York-based Morrell & Company Fine Wine Auctions, reads:

‘The 1982 Lafite possesses a dark, dense ruby/purple color with only a subtle lightening at the rim.

‘Spectacular aromatics offer jammy cherry and black fruits intertwined with lead pencil, mineral, and smoky wood scents.

‘Powerful for a Lafite, this wine unfolds to reveal extraordinary richness, purity, and overall symmetry in addition to stunning flavor depth and persistence.

‘The finish lasts for nearly a minute. An amazing achievement!’

Attempting to right the wrong

The auction house is expecting to raise about $15,000 from only the wine collection. His wine collection could not pull in enough money to even touch the damage Bernard Madoff did. He conned people out of $65 billion through his Ponzi scheme. However, it is not for lack of trying. His powerboats and Mercedes-Benz were sold in 2009, recovering $1.1 million in funds for his victims. $2 million was recovered from selling his wife’s diamonds.

His victims might just be better off being donated his wine for their own personal consumption with the amount they are expecting to fetch. However, on June 4th there is going to be an estate auction to sell the items within Madoff’s home. Between all the past and future auctions, let’s hope people can get a decent portion of their money back.

The Madoff Wine Auction at Morrell & Company Fine Wine Auctions

• Online May 18, 2011

• auction.morrellwineauctions.net/

• 58 lots

• 12 bottles of Bordeaux

• Château Lafite-Rothschild 1982

• Château Pétrus 1990

• Château Pétrus 1975

• Château Mouton-Rothschild 1996

• 2-ounce bottles: Smirnoff vodka, Bombay Gin, & Grand Marnier liqueur

• Six bottles of vintage 1997 Antinori Tignanello

• Two bottles of 2000 Bruno Giacosa Barolo

• A case of nonvintage Veuve Clicquot Champagne, yellow-label brut

• A bottle of New York’s Chelsea Wine Vault

Madoff won’t have the opportunity to repair the damages himself, as his projected release date is November 14, 2139. I’m no doctor, but something tells me the 73-year-old con artist won’t make it to his release date.

Citations

Daily Mail
Washington Post