Lawyers say Madoff wife's assets not part of fraud

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In a move bound to trigger huge anger among those who lost their life savings with Madoff funds, his lawyers have claimed the assets "are unrelated to the alleged Madoff fraud and only Ruth Madoff has a beneficial ownership interest in these assets".

They include the New York City apartment where Madoff is under house arrest, $45 million in bonds and $17 million in a bank account held by her at Wachovia Bank.

However, the prosecutor wants restraints to be kept on Ruth Madoff's New York apartment, another home in Palm Beach, Florida and the Madoffs' home in Montauk, New York.

Authorities say that, since his arrest, Madoff has been trying to mail hundreds of millions of dollars in cheques to family and associates in a bid to disperse the money and keep it out of the hands of the courts.