One of the leading players in the Bernard Madoff scandal was found dead Sunday in the swimming pool of his sprawling mansion on Palm Beach.
Billionaire Jeffry Picower, 67, whose reputation as a generous philanthropist was sullied when investigators claimed he was a beneficiary of Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme, was found by his wife and housekeeper shortly after noon at the bottom of the pool at his $28 million South Ocean Boulevard estate.
Despite efforts by paramedics, he could not be revived, said Don Taylor, acting battalion chief for Palm Beach Fire Rescue. "We had no pulse and he was not breathing on his own," Taylor said. "We worked on him to try and stabilize him as best we could."
He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was declared dead at 1:30 p.m. Palm Beach police are investigating the death as a drowning. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy to determine cause of death.
Picower's death closes yet another door for victims of Madoff's massive swindle.
"I do feel badly a man died," said Ronnie Sue Ambrosino, a former Delray Beach resident who lost her life savings to Madoff. "But it's another clue we'll never have. Madoff pleaded guilty and didn't go to trial. And now Picower dies. It's a little ironic that we're never going to find out the truth."
The leaders of many local charities mourned when Picower and his wife, Barbara, announced that their nearly $1 billion foundation was wiped out by the New York financier's massive fraud. The announcement came in December, shortly after Madoff, who is now serving 150 years in federal prison, was arrested.
In May, however, local charities who were beneficiaries of the Picowers' largesse were again left reeling.
The Picowers, according to attorneys investigating Madoff's phony financial empire, were part of the scheme for more than 20 years. They and their daughter, Gabrielle, made more than $5 billion in fictitious profits, according to a complaint that was filed as part of federal efforts to recover money for the victims of Madoff's scheme.
The Picowers routinely got absurd rates of returns on their investments, sometimes as high as 950 percent, the attorneys said. Further, they claim, Picower, a lawyer, CPA and medical entrepreneur, often contacted Madoff's investment house, telling it how much he should earn.
Picower's New York City attorney, William Zabel, has disputed the claims. "When the true facts are known, the court will see that Mr. Picower was deceived by Bernard L. Madoff like the (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and thousands of other investors," Zabel said in a recent statement.
While insisting the Picowers did nothing wrong, he said that they were in negotiations to settle the dispute to avoid "years of extensive litigation." The status of those talks wasn't known Sunday.
While many in the community knew of Jeffry Picower through his foundation, few knew him. He and his wife, Barbara, who bought the oceanfront estate called Casa del Sud in 1994, weren't part of the town's social swirl.
Barbara Picower was the public face of the foundation, not just doling out checks but working closely with charities it supported.
Tana Ebbole, CEO of the county's Children's Services Council, said while Barbara Picower regularly came to meetings to discuss the progress of programs the foundations was funding, she never spoke with Jeffry Picower.
"I think it was her thing," Ebbole said Sunday of the support of various children's and other philanthropic causes. "But I think it was a team effort."
As a member of the foundation board, he had to approve the gifts even if he was rarely seen. An exception was in 2003 when he had his photo snapped next to his wife at the playground for disabled children at John Prince Park that they made possible.
Picower, who early in his career worked as a CPA in New York, apparently made most of his money from investing. He occasionally ran afoul of regulators as he amassed a fortune. He became an unqualified billionaire in 2004 when Alaris Medical Systems was taken over by Cardinal Health, a global medical supply and technology company. He owned 65 percent of Alaris.
West Palm Beach attorney Louis Mrachek knew Picower as a client. He represented Picower when he sued neighbor Sydell Miller in 2002 when the construction of her 35,000-square-foot mansion took five years - two years longer than town codes allow. He also sued the town when it voted to allow another neighbor to build a home that exceeded height restrictions.
Mrachek said he also talked to officials at Good Samaritan Medical Center when one of the Picowers' bequests for a children's clinic was shelved when the hospital was taken over by Tenet Healthcare Corp. All of the matters were settled amicably, he said.
While he didn't socialize with Picower, Mrachek described him as "a very focused, intelligent and clever fellow."
Family members couldn't be reached for information about funeral arrangements.
Billionaire Jeffry Picower, 67, whose reputation as a generous philanthropist was sullied when investigators claimed he was a beneficiary of Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme, was found by his wife and housekeeper shortly after noon at the bottom of the pool at his $28 million South Ocean Boulevard estate.
Despite efforts by paramedics, he could not be revived, said Don Taylor, acting battalion chief for Palm Beach Fire Rescue. "We had no pulse and he was not breathing on his own," Taylor said. "We worked on him to try and stabilize him as best we could."
He was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was declared dead at 1:30 p.m. Palm Beach police are investigating the death as a drowning. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy to determine cause of death.
Picower's death closes yet another door for victims of Madoff's massive swindle.
"I do feel badly a man died," said Ronnie Sue Ambrosino, a former Delray Beach resident who lost her life savings to Madoff. "But it's another clue we'll never have. Madoff pleaded guilty and didn't go to trial. And now Picower dies. It's a little ironic that we're never going to find out the truth."
The leaders of many local charities mourned when Picower and his wife, Barbara, announced that their nearly $1 billion foundation was wiped out by the New York financier's massive fraud. The announcement came in December, shortly after Madoff, who is now serving 150 years in federal prison, was arrested.
In May, however, local charities who were beneficiaries of the Picowers' largesse were again left reeling.
The Picowers, according to attorneys investigating Madoff's phony financial empire, were part of the scheme for more than 20 years. They and their daughter, Gabrielle, made more than $5 billion in fictitious profits, according to a complaint that was filed as part of federal efforts to recover money for the victims of Madoff's scheme.
The Picowers routinely got absurd rates of returns on their investments, sometimes as high as 950 percent, the attorneys said. Further, they claim, Picower, a lawyer, CPA and medical entrepreneur, often contacted Madoff's investment house, telling it how much he should earn.
Picower's New York City attorney, William Zabel, has disputed the claims. "When the true facts are known, the court will see that Mr. Picower was deceived by Bernard L. Madoff like the (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and thousands of other investors," Zabel said in a recent statement.
While insisting the Picowers did nothing wrong, he said that they were in negotiations to settle the dispute to avoid "years of extensive litigation." The status of those talks wasn't known Sunday.
While many in the community knew of Jeffry Picower through his foundation, few knew him. He and his wife, Barbara, who bought the oceanfront estate called Casa del Sud in 1994, weren't part of the town's social swirl.
Barbara Picower was the public face of the foundation, not just doling out checks but working closely with charities it supported.
Tana Ebbole, CEO of the county's Children's Services Council, said while Barbara Picower regularly came to meetings to discuss the progress of programs the foundations was funding, she never spoke with Jeffry Picower.
"I think it was her thing," Ebbole said Sunday of the support of various children's and other philanthropic causes. "But I think it was a team effort."
As a member of the foundation board, he had to approve the gifts even if he was rarely seen. An exception was in 2003 when he had his photo snapped next to his wife at the playground for disabled children at John Prince Park that they made possible.
Picower, who early in his career worked as a CPA in New York, apparently made most of his money from investing. He occasionally ran afoul of regulators as he amassed a fortune. He became an unqualified billionaire in 2004 when Alaris Medical Systems was taken over by Cardinal Health, a global medical supply and technology company. He owned 65 percent of Alaris.
West Palm Beach attorney Louis Mrachek knew Picower as a client. He represented Picower when he sued neighbor Sydell Miller in 2002 when the construction of her 35,000-square-foot mansion took five years - two years longer than town codes allow. He also sued the town when it voted to allow another neighbor to build a home that exceeded height restrictions.
Mrachek said he also talked to officials at Good Samaritan Medical Center when one of the Picowers' bequests for a children's clinic was shelved when the hospital was taken over by Tenet Healthcare Corp. All of the matters were settled amicably, he said.
While he didn't socialize with Picower, Mrachek described him as "a very focused, intelligent and clever fellow."
Family members couldn't be reached for information about funeral arrangements.
