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MIPIM 2009

MIPIM 2009

Extensive coverage from this years global property market MIPIM, that took place in Cannes 10 - 13 March. Exclusive video report, News, Blogs, an interview with leading architect Norman Foster and reports on London Mayor Boris Johnson's visit. With the global property market in turmoil, find out what the experts predict.

Bernie Madoff's Riviera Assets

Bernie Madoff's powerboat 'Bull'

Madoff’s yacht is the talk of Monaco  ft.com 21 Jun 11 For the great and the good of the hedge fund world gathered in Monaco this week there is only one trade worth discussing: Bernard Madoff’s boat. The 90ft powerboat is being offered for sale with a €3m pricetag at the Gaim conference – one of the European hedge fund industry’s most glamorous annual events. The boat named “Bull” is being auctioned to raise money to compensate victims of his $65bn Ponzi scheme. Interested bidders were invited to a watch a demonstration of the boat’s prowess from a champagne reception on the balcony of the Llorca Café. The sale of the vessel is an uncomfortable reminder for the hedge fund crowd gathered in Monaco. Sam Jones.

Madoff's yach Bull for auction at 5th Antibes Yacht Show

Yacht’s celebrity links keep interest buoyant at AYS  telegraph.co.uk 08 Apr 11 No bull, here’s a boat that really could take you for a ride. Among the 80ft Sunseekers and high-speed catamarans lining the quayside for the 5th annual Antibes Yacht Show, one vessel really stands out. The 27m “Bull” superyacht boasts six berths including an “owner’s en suite stateroom” and “VIP en suite cabin”. Its a snip, with a list price of €3m, compared with the €6m it went for new 2007. “The previous owner is a little bit of a celebrity,” let slip Wyles Hardy & Co, the auctioneer selling the boat. It’s only one Bernie Madoff. Would you buy a second-hand pleasure palace from a convicted $65bn fraudster? Rupert Neate.

Madoff's UK directors sued for £50m  independent.ie 09 Dec 10 Papers were filed in London in a bid to recover at least 80 million dollars (£50.6 million) from the international arm of jailed financier Bernard Madoff's business, the trustee recovering assets for investors said. Irving Picard said the case was filed in the High Court of Justice Commercial Court to recover funds that flowed through Madoff Securities International, including money used to buy luxury goods and services for the Madoff family, such as a yacht, a home in the south of France and an Aston Martin car. Mr Picard said defendants in the complaint included all of the former directors of Madoff's international wing, including his brother Peter and two sons Mark and Andrew. Martin Flumenbaum, a lawyer representing Mark and Andrew Madoff, said Mr Picard's claims were baseless. PA.

Bernie Madoff's Yacht Bull in Golfe Juan

Bernie Madoff’s French Yacht Up For Sale  luxist.com 18 Nov 10 Classic Driver reports that Wyles Hardy & Co., on behalf of Grant Thornton UK LLP , the joint liquidators of Madoff Securities International, is selling off another of Madoff's "Bull" yachts. This one is a 88-foot Leopard yacht. Madoff's other yachts were auctioned off last year but this one was seized in France last year. It was just released from a full out-of-the-water maintenance and has been deemed ready for immediate use. The yacht has twin MTU M92 engines that have seen less than 300 hours' running time and has a cruising speed of 33 knots. The yacht was built in 2007 by Cantiere Navale Arno (Pisa, Italy) to Madoff's specifications. Deidre Woollard.

Feds sell off $68.7 million in Madoff’s belongings so far  aolnews.com 23 Sep 10 While 72 year old swindler Bernie Madoff serves a 150 year sentence behind bars, federal authorities are working to use his ill-gotten gains to repay his victims. On Wednesday, in the latest court filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the government has so far recouped about about $68.7 million through the sale of his belongings, though the figure obviously falls far short of the $50 billion or so Madoff swindled from investors. The government tally so far includes $7.3 million from the sale of his New York City co-op; about $59 million from the sale of his 4 bedroom home in Montauk, N.Y.; $1.4 million from his Cap d’Antibes apartment in the French Riviera; and cars, boats, a securities account and personal property. Allan Lengel.
Madoff items to be auctioned to reimburse victims  USA Today 10 Nov 09 In the continuing effort to raise money for victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme, an auction of jewelry and other items formerly owned by the disgraced financier or his relatives is scheduled to be held in New York City on Saturday. Three former Madoff yachts and one that belonged to his top financial aide, Frank DiPascali, are to be sold in a separate auction next week in Florida. Kevin McCoy.

Last year people who had never met Bernie Madoff were queuing up to invest their wealth with him on the promise of secured returns. This year he is the scourge of the investmet world. The big question is how he got away with his $50bn 'Ponzi Scheme' scam for so long. Now US authorities want to seize his assets. His property on Cap d'Antibes is relatively modest valued at $1.6m. Madoff's $7m yacht 'Bull', named after his prefered stock market trend, is moored in the South of France, and in his wife's name. We have scoured the web for the most relevant information on his two principal Riviera assets. RLTV 19 Mar 09

Bernie Madoff leaving NY Court French officials to seize Ruth Madoff's chateau  Newsday.com 23 Mar 09 News that the French are going after the Madoff home in Cap d'Antibes came Monday during a contentious hearing in federal court in Manhattan. A. M. Destefano.
French investor requests prosecutor seize proceeds from sale of Madoff's Riviera villa  Canadian Business Online 24 Apr 09 A French victim of Bernard Madoff's fraud sought Friday to have proceeds from the sale of the jailed financier's million-euro villa on the French Riviera seized to compensate investors swindled out of billions of dollars. Jean Reihnart, a lawyer for the victim, told The Associated Press that Madoff and his wife Ruth are looking to sell the villa, valued at euro1.1 million ($1.5 million), and he claimed that an agreement on the sale has been signed with a Russian businessman. AP.
France Manse Battle Feds Fight French Over Chateau Bernie  New York Post  24 Mar 09 Sacre bleu! A battle royal between American and French authorities is brewing over ownership of Ponzi king Bernard Madoff's $1 million getaway on the Riviera, it was revealed yesterday.France is making a bid to seize the home, known as "Chateau des Pins Villa 2," located in Cap d'Antibes on the French Riviera, said David Sheehan, a lawyer involved in liquidating Madoff's corporate assets. Bruce Golding & Dan Mangan.
Madoff’s Three-Bedroom Riviera Retreat Belied Ponzi Scheme Role  Bloomberg.com 8 Jan 09  Bernard Madoff’s three-bedroom apartment in the French Riviera’s Cap d’Antibes has a partially obstructed sea view and overlooks the tennis courts and swimming pools of larger homes closer to the water.The 120-square-meter (1,300-square-foot) apartment, one of 23 in the Chateau des Pins development, is urprisingly modest for a man who allegedly swindled people out of $50 billion, says Bernard Collini-Lopes, an interior designser who has worked on several of the properties. Alan Katz.

Madoff's Cap d'Antibes villa

Nadoff's Yacht 'Bull' Photo: Philippe Bertini

Bernie Madoff's $7 Million Luxury Yacht Scam  Luxist.com 17 Mar 09 Super-fraudster Bernie Madoff bought a $7 million luxury yacht in the South of France using cash channeled through his London office and had it registered in his wife's name in order to launder money stolen from hapless clients, the Times of London reports. In 2006 Madoff told his associates at Madoff Securities International in London's Mayfair to transfer money to a French shipyard for a powerful 88-ft. Leopard motoryacht, alleging that their euro bank accounts would make the transaction easier. Jared Paul Stern.

More Riviera Life TV

Zoo Parc Cap-Ferrat

The Saga of Cap Ferrat Zoo

British property developer Robert Bourne has given up on his plans to re-develop the site that until recently housed the Cap Ferrat Zoo, however the future of the land is now up in the air. Local authorities are looking at an institutional buy back of this prime piece of real estate and at who would manage any eventual re-opening of the zoo. Check out the latest news here as we look at a step by step history of the battle to save the zoo.

Le Provençal Delayed By Property Market Crash

This massive project in Juans les Pins was slated to open in 2010 with local developers confident that the global property crash would not touch the Cote d'Azur. However, rumours abounded that the project had ground to a halt and even that it was unviable in the current economic climate. To address these rumours, Provençal Investments SA issued a press statement announcing that the project was now 'due for completion 2012'.

Omar Bongo's Estate in Nice's Cimiez district

Dictators Properties on the Cote d'Azur

The Cote d'Azur has housed a motley crew of dictators and despots. In this section we feature the properties of the late President of Gabon, El Hadj Omar Bongo; Zaire's former dictator Mobuto Sese Seko; Iraqi dictator Sadam Hussein and Belgian King Leopold II.

Villa Irina Copyright XPLORA

Russian Oligarchs

Russia's post-Communist super rich businessmen, commonly referred to as the 'oligarchs', have become a fixture on the Cote d'Azur. Many have bought, and sold, some of the most prestigious real estate on the French Riviera. We look at some of the recent deals that have hit the headlines.

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