The Mails Are Alive With the Jewels of Madoff

Some of them, according to this New Yorker piece by Lizzie Widdicombe, are being sent in by Madoff victims to raise cash:

Back in midtown, business was brisk at the Madison Avenue headquarters of CIRCA, a jewelry-buying firm, where Madoff-related jewels had been incoming all month, like expensive shrapnel. “When Madoff hit, then we started to get the calls,” the firm’s C.E.O., Chris Del Gatto, said the other day in his office, which is decorated with polo paraphernalia. An older woman in Beverly Hills had mailed in a nine-carat diamond to sell, so that she could pay her expenses; the company had sent armored cars to retrieve two batches of family jewels from Chicago and Arizona. “If it’s high enough value, one of the services we provide is we’ll send Brinks,” Del Gatto said.

And some of them, according to this Washington Post report by William Branigin, are being sent out by Madoff himself, which is a no-no:

In a separate development in New York, federal prosecutors today charged that Madoff, who is currently under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment, violated conditions of his bail by mailing about $1 million worth of jewelry and other assets to relatives and friends. The prosecutors asked a judge to revoke Madoff’s $10 million bail and send him to jail. An attorney for Madoff argued that the mailings were done “innocently” and said his client is not a flight risk or a threat to the community. The judge said he would rule later on the matter.

Note to self: apply tomorrow for a job with the U.S.P.S. and keep on the lookout for more Madoff jewels.