Palm Beach police: Jeffry Picower has died

[Subdivisions]

Source: Associated Press

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Authorities say Jeffry Picower, a Florida philanthropist and a friend of Bernard Madoff for decades, has died. He was 67.

Picower was the former New York lawyer and accountant alleged to have extracted billions of dollars from the Bernard Madoff investment scheme.

Authorities say he was found at the bottom of his Palm Beach home's pool Sunday afternoon by his wife and could not be revived by Palm Beach fire rescue workers. Picower was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 1:30 p.m.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iRVYiOGzpLaWfiuFKrhEkakASp0QD9BIAVL00

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That's all there is at the link.

Here is the Google News link: http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GGLR_enUS264US264&q=Picower&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn

Some background on Picower: http://thegovmonitor.com/world_news/united_states/trustee-tells-jeffry-picower-to-return-7-2-billion-profit-from-madoff-scam-8320.html

Looks like he was due in court on Tuesday.

[notadmblnd]

1. another conveniently suicided person.

What's with the rich killing themselves when it's time to go to court? Can't their money buy them out of any problems they have?

[UpInArms]

2. well, if they die before they get charged and found guilty

their heirs get to keep their ill-gotten loot.

[mitchum]

6. Did they have to draw straws to see who would hold dad under?

[SDuderstadt]

10. WTF?

Could you please cite some sort of credible source for this goofy claim?

[ozymandius]

12. It's law.

If a person dies before sentencing, their record is as good as expunged. Civil action can provide some possible remedy for those who lost money in the Madoff ponzi scheme. But that takes time and a hell of a lot of money. So, to be succinct, this is not a goofy claim.

[SDuderstadt]

14. All you are doing is reasserting the claim...

I'd love to see something more substantive than you claiming something.

[ozymandius]

21. Well let me assert something else.

Based on knowledge.

The court will abate his conviction since the court neither cannot take money from nor subject a dead person to criminal jurisprudence. For those who were harmed by the deceased's actions, for which he was found guilty while still living, there are still remedies they can pursue in civil court. One remedy is to sue "the estate of..." If there is no executor of the estate, one who is legally entitled to oversee the distribution of the deceased's assets to his heirs, then the court will appoint an executor. At this time, the distribution process of the estate's assets is frozen. The executor is then tasked with defending the estate against legal claims in court, either through direct representation or with an attorney's assistance.

Need more? Go look it up. It might take five minutes.

[SDuderstadt]

29. Nevermind...n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

13. See: Ken Lay

I supose it's not as simple as the other poster implies but his death certainly DOES benfit the family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Lay#Abatement_of_conviction

Abatement of conviction
On October 17, 2006, since Lay died prior to exhausting his appeals, his conviction was abated.<14><15> Precedent in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court governing the district where Lay was indicted,<16> indicates that abatement had to be automatically granted. When abatement occurs, the law views it as though he had never been indicted, tried and convicted.<17><3> The government opposed Lay's attorneys' motion for abatement, and the Department of Justice issued a statement that it "remains committed to pursuing all available legal remedies and to reclaim for victims the proceeds of crimes committed by Ken Lay."<18><19> Civil suits are expected to continue against Lay's estate. However, according to legal expert Joel Androphy, claimants may not seek punitive damages against a deceased defendant, only compensatory damages.<20>

[SDuderstadt]

18. Thanks for the straightforward explanation....

and I agree it is not as simple as the earlier poster asserted, as it appears he/she implied that aggrieved parties have no further remedies, which is certainly not true. I would also point out that precedent is different from district to district, so the precedent in Lay might not apply in Florida which, I believe, is part of the 11th district.

[No Elephants]

23. The death has a lot of practical advantages for those around the deceased, too.

[AnneD]

30. He is not the first executive under scrutiny....

to die by swimming pool. Thus many folks healthy suspicion.

[SDuderstadt]

31. Except, several people here are not engaging in "suspicion"...

they're making outright claims, without much in the way of actual evidence. This "shoot first, ask questions later" element of DU is quite troubling.

[SpiralHawk]

25. "These 'suicides' are so, um, unfortunate and stuff. Smirk." - Republicon Cronies

[Sanity Claws]

5. He did it to protect his family from Russian mob

The word is that the Russian mob is behind the Madoff matter. Madoff won't talk but the police know that he alone did not mastermind the scheme.
This guy either committed suicide to protect himself and his family or the Mob, oops, pushed him to the bottom of the pool to protect the mob's operations.

[Dreamer Tatum]

8. Absolutely

No one steals that amount of money without having a lot of nasty people around. This is probably one of many dead bodies to come.

[alcibiades_mystery]

16. "The word is..."

Aaaaaachooobullshit.

Stop talking out of your ass.

[northzax]

20. much more likely to be the Israeli mob

honestly. I mean if we're just making stuff up an all.

[WriteDown]

27. You've got it all wrong....

Israeli government. It was the Zionists of course.

[defendandprotect]

15. Yes . . .

[LisaL]

3. Found at the bottom of the pool?

[jus_the_facts]

4. here's a pic of his shanty.....

:sarcasm:


http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/jeffry-picowers-house/view/?service=1

[Subdivisions]

11. That 'house' next door (to the left) was in the news once upon a time...

I can't exactly remember for what reason but I think it was owned by someone famous who bought it then had to sell it at a loss, or some such. Anyways, I remember seeing it on TV news and on the Net.

ETA: I was just looking on Google Earth and I may be thinking of Trump's house further north. Anyways, nearly all the houses on that strand are/were famous at one time or another.

[SpiralHawk]

26. Is it the mansion of Rush DraftDodger Limbaugh (R)

The famous $40 million a year Common Man of the Republicon Homelanders?

[KansDem]

28. Ah, looking at that pic reminded me of that old song...

It's only a shanty
in old Shanty Town
the roof is so slanty it touches the ground.
But my tumbled down shack by an old railroad track,
like a millionaire's mansion is calling me back.

I'd give up a palace if I were a king.
It's more than a palace, it's my everything.
There's a queen waiting there with a silvery crown
in a shanty in old Shanty Town.

...brings back such memories! :cry:sniff, sniff...

[Hannah Bell]

7. picower foundation had some weird connections to another story too.

i'll see if i can dredge up the details.

[ret5hd]

9. kicking for later reference

[drm604]

17. Scheduled court appearances seem to be unhealthy for some people.

:shrug:

[Piewhacket]

19. Picower ran Madoff... so who ran Picower? Hmmmm?

Guess we'll never know.

[No Elephants]

22. Anyone testing the DNA of the corpse?

[ret5hd]

24. Sorry. Already cremated and the ashes spread.

:sarcasm: