Perhaps Madoff's most personal confidant, Ruth Madoff, his wife, used millions from the fraudulent earnings of her husband to fund her "life of splendor." A month prior to her husband's confession, she withdrew 5.5 million dollars from a feeder fund into BLMIS and an additional 10 million following Madoff's confession to his sons. As part of her husband's sentencing in 2009, Ruth agreed to pay $77.5 million of her claimed $80 million in assets, yet this did not deter court appointed trustee Irving Picard from filing additional lawsuits. In May of 2019, she agreed to pay over half a million in cash and trusts to Picard with the remainder of assets to be forfeited following her future death. In accordance with this agreement, she must also report her expenditures regularly to Picard to ensure she has no hidden bank accounts.
