US News

RUTH HIT WITH CAP OF $100

It’s all about the Benjamins for Ruth Madoff.

The wife of the jailed Ponzi schemer can no longer spend more than $100 on herself without documenting it to the trustee liquidating her disgraced hubby’s investment-advisory business, a judge has ruled.

The purchases must be deemed “reasonable” by a judge, otherwise she could be held liable and in contempt of court.

The order by a Manhattan bankruptcy court judge Friday also bars Ruth from “dissipating, transferring or otherwise disposing of” any current or future assets, including the $2.5 million the feds let her keep after they were unable to tie it to Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion fraud scheme.

So Ruth must now vigorously collect her receipts, and by the fifth business day of each month fill out a form documenting expenses over $100. She must also provide the court with her monthly bank balance.

If trustee Irving Picard deems any purchase she makes — such as high-priced caviar or designer shoes — unreasonable, he could then take the issue up with a judge, who would ultimately decide whether Ruth should be penalized.

The deal stems from a suit Picard filed last week to recover $44.8 million in “fraudulent transfers” that he said let Ruth live “a life span of splendor” using money from her husband’s investments.

He alleges the money was transferred to her from Bernie’s firm over a six-year period.

Ruth agreed to report her expenses monthly to Picard, and she was allowed to spend cash on “reasonable” legal fees, court records say.

Bernie Madoff, 71, was sentenced June 29 to 150 years in prison for using money from new clients to pay earlier investors in the country’s biggest Ponzi scheme.

Ruth hasn’t been charged with a crime. But she’s been forced to forfeit most her wealth and move out of the couple’s $7 million apartment.

Picard’s complaint lists 111 wire transfers from Bernie’s firm to Ruth’s personal bank account or to companies she invested in. Picard alleges that Ruth used some of the cash to pay off her credit-card bill and to buy a yacht.

Ruth’s lawyer, Peter Chavkin, declined comment.

rich.calder@nypost.com