The estranged wife of Bernie Madoff is living high on the hog and looking for love in one of the wealthiest towns in America, an exclusive National ENQUIRER investigation reveals.
Nearly six years after the moneyman’s Ponzi scheme stiffed 13,500 victims out of a staggering $65 billion, Ruth Alpern Madoff has settled into a $1.5 million mansion in tony Old Greenwich, Conn.
And while the feds seized most of the family’s $80 million in assets, she’s been spotted buying armloads of designer duds, cases of fine wine and pricey cosmetics.
“Instead of living modestly and paying some sort of restitution, Ruth doesn’t seem to be feeling any financial pain whatsoever!” grumped one outraged local socialite. “It’s an absolute disgrace that she’s still living the good life.”
Bernie is now serving a 150-year jail sentence, and while many suspect Ruth, 73, had some knowledge of his long-running scam, charges were never filed against her.
Tragically for Ruth her only surviving son, Andrew, died September 3 of lymphoma. He was 48.
Meanwhile, The ENQUIRER has learned the grandmother is hot to trot to find a man!
“Ruth confided in a psychic that she still craves intimacy, and hasn’t been with a man in over five years,” said a source. “She said the man she married turned out to be a ‘big creep and a crook,’ and she’s divorcing him.”
Still, pampered Ruth has been seen around town buying up a storm, sources say.
“She scooped up slacks, blouses, bags and shoes” totaling $5,000, revealed an associate at Ralph Lauren.
At Saks Fifth Avenue in Greenwich, Ruth dropped around $550 for wrinkle creams at the Estee Lauder counter, said another source.
And at Old Greenwich Fine Wines, Ruth prefers top-shelf brands, “buying wine by the case and multiple bottles of vodka, mainly Absolut and Grey Goose, dropping hundreds at a time,” an employee said.
Ruth’s recent bill for an eye exam and pair of designer frames at 20/20 Optical of Old Greenwich “exceeded $500,” revealed a clerk. She’s also dropped a bundle on toys – board games, science kits and arts and crafts supplies –for her grandkids at The Funhouse. “On her last visit, she spent hundreds of dollars,” added a store insider.
As for food shopping, Ruth hits the pricey Whole Foods. “She comes in often, sometimes with a baseball cap pushed down over her face,” said a cashier, “One time I helped bag her groceries, and when I looked up at the register, her tab was close to $300.”
After hiding out with relatives in Florida post-scandal, Ruth lives alone in the 2,200-square-foot home in Old Greenwich, which was owned by Andrew.
The local socialite sniffed: “Ruth may flit about as if she doesn’t have a care in the world – but she’s a social pariah in these parts.”
