WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Autopsy set for Madoff associate dead in Fla. pool
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - An autopsy is planned for a man accused of making more than $7 billion off the investment schemes of jailed financial manager Bernard Madoff.
Jeffry Picower (PICK'-ow-er) was found by his wife Sunday at the bottom of a pool at the couple's sprawling oceanside Palm Beach mansion. He died a short time later at a nearby hospital.
The 67-year-old was No. 371 on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans, with a net worth of $1 billion.
Police are investigating the death as a drowning, but haven't ruled anything out. Palm Beach County authorities planned an autopsy Monday.
Some victims of Madoff's vast Ponzi scheme say Picower was the fraud's biggest beneficiary. In a lawsuit to recover assets, trustee Irving Picard demands he return the allegedly bogus profits.
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