What did Ruth Madoff know, and when did she know it? The wife of the man accused of a $50 billion Ponzi scheme reportedly ran the books for his crooked money-management business.

Bernie Madoff is locked up in his Manhattan apartment, he no longer has access to his assets, and he's been stripped of his cars, too. But there's a little Madoff loot stashed away just waiting for Bernie to come and collect it, assuming he gets there before the feds do. A search of the Unclaimed Funds database maintained by New York State's Office of the Comptroller shows that Bernie and Ruth Madoff are owed half a dozen interest checks and dividends from a handful of banks and property firms. Okay, fine, it's probably not a lot of money and whatever is contained in the accounts will probably have to be turned over to the government so it can be distributed to Madoff's victims. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and considering the funds have been sitting there for 15 years now, there's always a chance they'll never find out! Bernie and Ruth's unclaimed riches after the jump.

• Tim Geithner was sworn in as Treasury Secretary last night. William Dudley is expected to take over for Geithner at the New York Fed. [BN, NYT, WSJ]
• Nomura announced a quarterly loss of $3.8 billion yesterday. [DB]
• Barclays says it plans to write down an additional $11 billion for 2008. [NYT]
• Tremont, the hedge fund that invested in Madoff, may shut down soon. [NYP]
• Vikram Pandit has hinted that Citi may abandon plans to buy a new jet. [CS]
• John Paulson is continuing to rake in lots of money. [BN]
• 78,000 people were laid off by public companies yesterday. [NYP]
• Stan O'Neal? He's a lousy tipper, just so you know. [NYP]

Just because Marisa Noel Brown's father and husband have been thoroughly disgraced in recent weeks doesn't mean she has any intention of stepping away from the social circuit. Brown is co-hosting Junior Collector's Night at Doubles this Thursday and tickets are still available. Just be prepared to run for the exit if she takes you aside to tell you about a fantastic investment opportunity she's heard about. [GoaG]

• A group of teens who supposedly lost their trust funds to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme have taken responsibility for covering his Palm Beach estate with toilet paper this weekend. [Palm Beach Post]
• More on what Bernie's sons may (or may not have) known about their dad's scheme. [WSJ]
• What motivated Madoff to carry out his nefarious plot? According to a former FBI profiler, he has all the characteristics of a psychopathic serial killer. [NYT]
• More on the man charged with defending Madoff, Ira Sorkin. [Crain's]

Did Bernie Madoff fuck around and rip off often-shot rapper 50 Cent for millions? Yes, if you believe an anonymous snitch who talked to a website that 50 Cent hates!

It's Friday afternoon, which means you're probably already thinking about booze. Why not sample a "current-events-inspired" drink this weekend? Vanity Fair has the recipe for the Madoff-Made-Off Mojito. You'll need rum, Grand Marnier, mint leaves, freshly squeezed lime juice, and a splash of champagne. Just don't forget to stir gently. [VF]

• Lizzie Grubman gave birth to another son yesterday. Little Jack arrived ahead of schedule, though, which must be wreaking havoc on Lizzie's weekend plans. [P6]
• Larry King lost "more than $1 million" to Bernie Madoff. And some sources say Madoff is now contending with some "serious" health issues. [P6]
• Tom Cruise is undergoing an image makeover so he can win back female fans. This will reportedly prohibit him from wearing sunglasses on the red carpet, getting grabby with Katie Holmes, or lecturing TV hosts on psychiatric medications. [Star]

You know what you don't need when you're under 24-hour lockdown in your apartment? Six cars. The trustee liquidating Bernie Madoff's investment firm has asked a judge to allow him to cancel the leases on six vehicles, including a Range Rover, Cadillac, Lexus and three Mercedes Benzes. Five of the six will go back to dealers in New York City and Long Island; keep an eye out for a 2009 Mercedes S550 that suddenly appears on the lot of Rallye Motors in Roslyn. Odds are it's either black or gray. [Bloomberg]

Eric Roth has a lot to be thankful about. The award-winning writer of Forrest Gump and Munich, this morning Roth was nominated for an Oscar for his adaptation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The bad news? Whatever money he made from Benjamin Button—or any of his other movies—is long gone. In late December, Roth revealed that he'd lost "all his retirement money" to Bernie Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Now Roth has filed suit against Stanley Chais, the LA-based money manager who helped collect an estimated $250 million for Madoff. So if Roth ends up winning on Oscar night and his acceptance speech strikes you as a little overly emotional (or you're just outraged that Button won), you should probably cut him a little slack.

Zsa Zsa Gabor and her publicity-loving husband, Prince Frederic Von Anhalt, tell the National Enquirer that they lost "a fortune" because of Bernie Madoff and they may now be forced to sell their Bel-Air home, cars, artwork and jewelry to stay afloat. "I'm going to have to make back that money somehow or we're going to face financial ruin," the prince tells the magazine. Accepting a check from the Enquirer to tell your story sounds like a good enough place to start. [Radar]

Previously: Bernie Madoff Guided Tour, Stop #17

Who stands to make a fortune from the Bernie Madoff mess? The lawyers, of course. Just a few of the firms currently involved in one way or another: Proskauer Rose, which is advising dozens of former Madoff clients; Paul, Weiss which was retained by Madoff's sons, Mark and Andrew; Dechert, the firm defending Madoff pal Ezra Merkin; and Simpson Thacher, which is now advising Walter Noel's Fairfield Greenwich Group. [Bloomberg, previously]

One more member of the Madoff family who probably won't be attending the next family reunion: Bernie Madoff's nephew, Charles Wiener, who is now selling his ranch-style home in Centerport for $1.4 million. Wiener, whose mother Sondra is Bernie's sister, purchased the home with his wife Carolyn in 2002 for $800,000. Now that Charles is unemployed—he worked for his uncle's investment firm as director of administration—and he's experienced a "devastating financial loss," he's been forced to sell the home. He didn't indicate where the couple is planning to move next. Given Wiener's mother was a victim, too, and he described his uncle to the Post as "rotten," we'll assume crashing at 133 East 64th Street isn't an option. Photos of the home after the jump.

A hedge-fund customer is born every minute. A money manager who promised incredible returns is on the lam. Bernie Madoff? No, it's Art Nadel of Sarasota, whose clients think he stole $350 million from them.

New York Times faux-trend specialist Allen Salkin's dad knew Bernie Madoff in college. Sort of. Other than that, the only thing you'll learn from this piece is that Salkin's dad loves cream cheese.

Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff's immediate family is more than a little sketchy. But what about his parents? His mom was banned from being a broker and his dad didn't pay his property taxes.

We've all wondered what drove Bernie Madoff to (allegedly) commit his crimes. Was he an obsessive-compulsive narcissist? Just greedy? One factor we didn't consider: genetics. Fortune reports this afternoon that Bernie wasn't the first member of his family to run afoul with the authorities. A broker-deal registered to Bernie's mother, Sylvia Madoff, was shuttered by the SEC more than 40 years ago for failing to file financial records with the agency. Strangely, acquaintances of the family don't recall Mrs. Madoff working as a broker, which would have been highly unusual for a woman at the time, and the firm, Gibraltar Securities, used the Madoff family house in Queens as its mailing address. (Fortune suggests the firm was used as a front by Bernie's father, Ralph.) Unless Bernie or his brother address the matter, it's unlikely we'll ever find out since both Sylvia and Ralph Madoff died in the 1970s. But for prosecutors scouring the globe for Madoff's illicit gains, perhaps it's just the clue they've been looking for! The tiny British colony of Gibraltar is one of the world's most notorious tax havens. [Fortune]

Bernie Madoff's financial scam gets more impressive by the day. How long do you think he was defrauding people? Five years? Fifteen years? How about, oh, 40 years or so:

• Bernie Madoff's brokerage firm, which is now up for sale, probably won't fetch more than $10 million, according to a report drafted by Lazard. The investment bank goes on to point out that Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities is now a "tarnished" brand. Really, you think? [Bloomberg]
• A report by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority suggests that Madoff may not have made a single trade on behalf of his investors. [AP]
• Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas to determine whether money manager Ezra Merkin may have defrauded investors by putting their money in Madoff's hands without their knowledge. [NYT]
• Meet Frank DiPascali Jr., Bernie's former right-hand who is now under investigation for his role in Madoff's scheme. [Bloomberg]