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COMMENTS AND PICS COMPILED FROM PREVIOUS NEWS STORIES For decades, SEC investigations were waved off, as the Madoffs wallowed in the high life .

The office rented by Madoff's firm in the Israeli-owned famous Lipstick Building, where rents command about $3-5 million annually is also "the epitome of luxury."

Madoff's Mellon bank accounts are under investigation and show signs of offshore activity. Accounts in family members' names are a possibility.

"A lot of people have doubts about the family," said a Garden City, NY, attorney representing 10 Madoff investors. "We don't know to what extent his wife benefited. She certainly benefited. She lived a Gatsby-style life." Ruth Madoff mailed $1 million in watches and jewelry, including jewel-encrusted Tiffany and Cartier watches, a diamond necklace, and other pieces of precious gems to relatives in December after a court prohibited dispersal of assets.

In 2006, Ruth Madoff took steps to protect their Florida property from seizure under homestead laws. A 2006 homestead application was denied by the Palm Beach Property Appraiser's office. She reapplied September 2007 and was granted an exemption on Jan. 12, CBS reported.

An Atlanta law firm that has represented clients in previous Ponzi scheme cases, noted that a good portion of Madoff's business was done internationally, and said some of the money could have been moved there. "The auditors will have a field day with this, trying to trace the bank accounts."

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Madoff's Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous (all with other people's money)

Bernard Madoff, the man behind an alleged $50 billion fraud, has a yacht named 'Bull,' owns several luxurious homes and may even have had two private planes on call.

Upper East Side apartment---Before being jailed, Madoff was under house arrest at his co-op apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side where he lived with his wife, Ruth. Apartments in the building, just blocks away from his firm's offices, usually go for upwards of $5 million. One neighbor: CBS' Matt Lauer, who scooped up a unit for $5.9 million in 2004.

A yacht named 'Bull' Madoff's 55.5-foot yacht was built in 1969 by Rybovich and Sons, an 80-year-old Florida boatyard whose client roster includes Ernest Hemingway and Chicago mobster Anthony "Big Tuna" Accardo. A Rybovich employee confirmed Madoff was a customer but declined to comment. This yacht--one of four boats owned, was docked on the Riviera in Cap D'Antibes, France, outside Madoff's Riviera "bungalow," when news broke of the fraud.

Madoff may have had two private planes on call through BLM Air Charter, a company registered at the same address as his Bernard Madoff Investment Securities firm. According to federal aviation records, BLM Air Charter is one of seven owners of a Cessna Citation X with NetJets, the Berkshire Hathaway company that sells shares of private planes. (NetJets spokesperson Maryann Aarseth declined to comment, saying only that "Part of flying with NetJets is flying privately, so we don't talk about who our NetJet owners are.") BLM Air Charter's second plane, a 2008 Embraer business jet, is co-owned with a Long Island company.

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Madoff will likely accept life in prison hoping to help his wife Ruth and son Andrew (above) avoid a criminal rap. Ruth withdrew $15.5 million right before her husband's Dec 11 arrest, and is now trying to protect $69M of assets in her name from being attached by thousands of claimants. "Where does Mrs. Madoff get millions of dollars from? Mrs. Madoff was not known as the genius of Wall Street independently," a lawyer for some of Bernie's customers, told Reuters. "What did she do to earn that money?"

AND THEN THERE'S BERNIE'S BROTHER. Whistleblower Harry Markopolos says Madoff’s Brother Audited Firm’s Investments and that ONLY Peter Madoff was "authorized to audit" fund performance "for reasons of secrecy".

Among other things, Peter Madoff was a Chief Compliance Officer at his brother Bernie's firm. Peter was also a director of several securities associations and exchanges. Peter's daughter Shana, was Bernie' firm's compliance officer.

Here's Peter Madoff's house.

As the No. 2 executive at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Peter Madoff worked side by side with his older brother Bernard for nearly 40 years. Peter was viewed as Bernie's heir apparent so the brothers tried to avoid flying together when they went on skiing trips together. Now, they are keeping their distance. Peter has stopped coming into the office and isn't talking publicly about his role at the securities firm, where he headed trading operations.

Peter's daughter Shana (married to a SEC exec who now works elsewhere) also joined the family business. She worked primarily as a "compliance lawyer" at Madoff Securities' market-making arm at the time of her uncle's arrest.

DESERVES A REPEAT----FREEPER JUSTMYTHOUGHTS' INCISIVE ASSESSEMENT OF THE MADOFF FRAUD:

I do not recall the US taxpayers bailing out ENRON investors. Madoff ran a private club of investors and not just anybody or everybody had an opportunity to invest.

And given that liberals want their sticky fingers on all 401ks and solvent pension funds..... those that invested with Madoff should not get another advantage off US taxpayers.

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These comments are particularly relevant b/c Madoff's investors are itching for the goverment (THAT'S US---THE TAXPAYERS) to step in.

They say the SEC played a big role in not detecting the fraud. And that the US tax code should be changed so that Madoff victims can recoup taxes they paid on profits that turned out to be illusory — no matter how far in the past those taxes were paid (there is currently a 3-year limit to apply for IRS overpayment).

The investors want to increase Securities Investor Protection Corporation payouts----(SIPC is funded by the securities indistry to compensate investors whose firms have gone under)......gives $500,000 maximum.....SIPC also has access to the US Treasury.

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Note well that the SEC received complaints only from Madoff's competitors. Not one Madoff investor ever filed a complaint.

The legal principle of “condonation” --- meaning implied forgiveness for certain behavior should foreclose any ideas that taxpayers are gonna bailout these mega-millionaires (who most assuredly have money stashed offshore).

Investors implicitly “condoned” Madoff’s actions over a period of time--sometimes for decades---- willingly acquiescing to Madoff's activities in several ways:

(1) Sending Madoff enormous sums of money, sums that were spread out over time (some families invested for generations), even AFTER they had the opportunity to assess their investments;

(2) Referring other investors to Madoff (if the investment was so bad, why did they bring in other investors?);

(3) Taking profits out of the investment, rolling it over, or putting more money in;

(4) Writing PERSONAL checks to Madoff's subrosa spinoff vehicle that was not listed on the SEC (which could be construed as a tax evasion--money laundering scheme).