Madoff's wife pulled out $15 million before his arrest

The wife of accused Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff pulled $15 million out of a brokerage account only days before her husband was arrested, Massachusetts's top securities regulator said yesterday.

Secretary of State William Galvin said Ruth Madoff withdrew $5.5 million on November 25 and $10 million on December 10 according to reports produced by Cohmad Securities, a firm co-owned by her husband.

Madoff is accused of masterminding a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, possibly the biggest ever. He was arrested and charged with securities fraud on December 11. In a Ponzi scheme, early investors are paid with money from later investors. Apart from many ordinary people Madoff's victims also include politicians, celebrities, athletes and charities.

For years, Cohmad Securities, partly owned by Madoff, received monthly payments from the financier for "professional services", "brokerage services" and "fees for account supervision," Galvin's office said.

The payments totaled $67 million and made up 84 per cent of Cohmad's total income over the last eight years, the documents show.

Many Massachusetts residents who lost millions of dollars to Madoff told Galvin's office that they were introduced to the financier by Cohmad representatives, including Robert Jaffe. Jaffe had been a long-time friend of Madoff and relied on his deep roots in Boston to make the introductions. Recently Jaffe said he too was a victim of Madoff's fraud.

Galvin is trying to suspend Cohmad's state license so that it can no longer act as a broker in Massachusetts.