Madoff’s mansion, vintage yacht seized

Authorities seized convicted financier Bernard L. Madoff’s waterfront mansion and vintage yacht in an effort to recoup assets for investors he swindled.

U.S. marshals changed the locks at the unoccupied property and inventoried the 8,753-square-foot home, listed on tax rolls as worth $9.3 million.

Madoff’s 55-foot yacht named “Bull,” a 1969 Rybovich valued at $2.2 million, was seized from a marina on Florida’s Atlantic coast. A motor boat also was seized.

Madoff, 70, is in jail in New York awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to swindling billions from investors. He faces up to 150 years in prison.

Lawyers for the investors want Madoff and his wife to give up all their assets, including a Manhattan penthouse and homes on New York’s Long Island and the French Riviera.

Also Wednesday, Massachusetts filed civil fraud charges against Connecticut investment firm Fairfield Greenwich Group, accusing it of understating its knowledge of Madoff’s scheme to investors. The firm denied the allegations and said it would contest them.