New York - Prosecutors stepped up their scrutiny of Bernard Madoff's family and assets on Tuesday, telling a judge they want to seize jewellery, business interests and more than $30m the disgraced money man and his wife lent to their two sons.
The move was one of two motions prosecutors filed on Tuesday, four days after Madoff pleaded guilty to what could be the largest fraud in history.
The other motion argued that Madoff must remain behind bars before his sentencing because his guilty plea creates a tremendous motive to flee, especially since he faces the near-certainty of a life prison sentence.
Assistant US attorney Lisa A Baroni said strict bail conditions that have kept Madoff under guard in his apartment with an electronic ankle bracelet and video monitoring were not foolproof.
She said Madoff "managed to perpetrate an enormous fraud, over the course of decades; his ingenuity should not be underestimated".
The prosecutor even noted that Madoff "has been shunned by the New York community and his inability to salvage his reputation".
She said his history of extensive foreign travel, including to his $1m home in France, also heightened the risk he could flee.
The court filing sets the stage for arguments on Thursday before a federal appeals court on whether Madoff should remain jailed. His defence lawyers have asked the court to set him free ahead of his sentencing.
The bail issue was one of two fronts for prosecutors in the Madoff case Tuesday. They are also pursuing the fruits of the fraud, attempting to seize as many assets from Madoff as they can to reimburse victims who lost billions.
The government earlier this week indicated it will seek the forfeiture of nearly everything the Madoffs own, from the $22m estimated value of four homes to $62m in cash and securities, nearly all of it in the name of Madoff's wife, Ruth.
The latest list extends the demands to loans the Madoffs made to their sons, Mark and Andrew, including a promissory note for $4.3m to Andrew and a note for $250 000 to Andrew.
The loans came less than three months before Madoff admitted to them that his investment business was a complete fraud.
In all, the government cites $22m in loans to Mark and $9.55m in loans to Andrew.
Madoff has insisted that his family was not involved in the fraud, but the attempt to seize the loans is a sign prosecutors are intensifying scrutiny of the sons as they investigate how the scam was carried out.
Prosecutors are also going after Madoff's business interests. The businesses in which the Madoffs would have to relinquish any ownership interest include real estate partnerships, a New Jersey cancer clinic and PJ Clarke's on the Hudson, a tavern located in the financial district.
- AP