Madoff Investor Found Dead in Pool

Jeffry Picower and wife Barbara were known as philanthropists until they were caught up in the Madoff scandal. Picower was found dead Sunday.

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Being tight with Bernie Madoff wasn’t just hazardous to your wealth: It was hazardous to your health.

A second prominent figure in the Madoff case has died. Jeffry Picower, a wealthy philanthropist who may have made as much as $7 billion from his Madoff investments and who has faced legal hassles since the Madoff fraud was exposed, was found dead at the bottom of his pool Sunday. The cause of Picower’s death was under investigation, according to reports this morning. The Wall Street Journal reported this afternoon that Picower's lawyer said he drowned because of a heart attack.

His body was found at 12:09 p.m. at the bottom of the pool at his oceanfront home on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, Florida. Picower had Parkinson’s disease and “cardiac issues,” the Times reports. His wife, Barbara, found the 67-year-old Picower and called police.

A well-known Wall Street investor, Picower was a philanthropist who, with his wife, established the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, and their own Picower Foundation, which supported human rights, medical research, and education.

At first, it was believed the Picowers were among the chief victims in Madoff’s $65 billion fraud.

But in May, the trustee seeking to pay back Madoff victims sued the Picowers to recover at least $6 billion they withdrew from Madoff accounts over the years. William Zabel, a family lawyer for the Picowers, said they were deceived by Madoff and didn’t know of the Ponzi scheme. He said talks were under way toward a settlement with the trustee to avoid years of litigation.

Picower isn’t the first person touched by Madoff’s schemes to die.

In December, a New York money manager who may have lost as much as $1.4 billion in client funds in the Madoff con killed himself in his Madison Avenue office. Magon de La Villehuchet, 65, a co-founder and chief executive officer of Access International Advisors, was found with his feet propped on his desk and a trash pail nearby to collect blood. He had multiple stab wounds to his wrist and arms and a box cutter and bottle of pills were found near the body.