Ruth Madoff’s New Digs in Old Greenwich

By Renee Ghert-Zand March 14, 2012

There goes the neighborhood. Some residents of Old Greenwich, Connecticut are not pleased to learn that they have been joined by none other than Ruth Madoff, wife of the notorious Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.

Rumors that Mrs. Madoff had arrived in town were recently confirmed. She apparently moved last October into a modest (by Greenwich standards) house that has either been in her family for years or was purchased for her by her surviving son Andrew, depending on the source. She decided to settle in Greenwich to be close to her son and grandchildren. The Madoffs’ other son, Mark, committed suicide in 2010.

Neighbors told CBS news that they had gotten a couple of glimpses of Madoff, but that she generally keeps to herself. That’s not surprising, given that she told 60 Minutes last fall, “Of course I feel the shame…I can barely walk down the street without worrying about people recognizing me.”

Some locals don’t care too much one way or the other about Madoff’s presence, but others interviewed by CBS did not mince words about their feelings. They questioned how Madoff, whose husband is serving 150 years in prison and who personally had to forfeit $80 million in assets, could afford to live in expensive Greenwich. Some also were disturbed by the fact that she was living in one of the toniest communities in the country while her husband’s victims will never recover financially.

It seems that Bernie Madoff may not even know of his wife’s new abode. Mrs. Madoff claims to have not spoken to him in at least six months.

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