Someone is making money off Bernie Madoff!
A person close to the world’s biggest swindler yesterday began selling news outlets a large collection of candid family snapshots of Madoff, his wife, their two sons and other relatives.
The photos — 50 in all — span from 1979 to last summer, and show the smiling Madoff clan at work, on the beach and relaxing at their East End home.
More than half were taken in Montauk, where the family has a large beachfront house, while most of the rest were shot in New York City.
In one, Madoff is shown standing on the field at Shea Stadium with his longtime friend, New York Met owner Fred Wilpon, whose family lost a fortune to the master con artist. Another photo at Shea shows Madoff’s sons, Andrew and Mark, with their cousin, Roger, all wearing softball uniforms bearing the team name “Madf.”
The 71-year-old Madoff — sentenced this week to 150 years in prison — and his wife, Ruth, appear happy together in a number of shots.
In a 1981 photo, Ruth, dressed in a one-piece swimsuit and wearing sunglasses, raises her drink to toast the photographer while seated on the beach in Montauk next to young Andrew, who takes a bite from a sandwich.
Brother Peter Madoff also is seen in several photos.
The striking images — which the prestigious photo agency Getty Images is marketing on the seller’s behalf — surfaced two days after Madoff was sentenced.
Getty refused to disclose the identity of the seller, who is expected to net thousands of dollars.
Lawyers for Bernard and Ruth Madoff, as well as for their sons, separately said they had no involvement in selling the photos and did not know who was responsible. Peter Madoff’s lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.
Meanwhile, the federal Bureau of Prisons has calculated Madoff’s “release” date as Nov. 14, 2139 — just 130 years, four months, and 12 days from now. That’s 20 years shy of the sentence Madoff received Monday, but reflects an assumption that he will get time shaved off for good conduct behind bars.
Also yesterday, court documents filed by the trustee winding down the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities firm said FBI agents will be working at the defunct company’s Manhattan headquarters until at least July 2010.