MADOFF'S JEWELLERY, FINERY TO BE AUCTIONED

       the trappings of Bernard Madoff's once luxurious lifestyle - jewels, furs and expensive trinkets - will be auctioned on Saturday in New York to benefit victims of Wall Street swindler.
       The catalogue contains almost 200 lots reflecting the gaudy life enjoyed by Madoff and his wife Ruth as a result of his decades-long, multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme.
       That includes no less than 17 Rolex watches, diamonds, fur coats, Hermes and Louis Vuitton handbags, crocodile-skin belts, golf clubs and numerous items of jewellery.
       On a more personal note, there will be a blue satin Mets baseball team jacket emblazoned with "Madoff" on the back. Estimated price: $500-$720 (Bt16,650-Bt24,000).
       The Madoff name appears on many other goods, ranging from beach boards to personal stationary.
       Gaston and Sheehan auctioneers are handling the sale at a Sheraton hotel in New York, but the goods were seized by the US Marshals Service to raise compensation for hundreds of investors cheated by Madoff.
       Pre-auction estimates by Gaston and Sheehan predict sales of about $500,000.
       Properties, including a Manhattan penthouse and Palm Beach retreat, have also been seized. A Long Island beach getaway sold for $8 million.
       Madoff, now serving a 150-year prison sentence for fraud, claimed just before his arrest last December to have been managing $65 million. However, much of that appears to have comprised fraudulent funds.
       The court-appointed liquidator says that investors lost $21.2 billion cash.