By Adam Nichols
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff was yet again the reason hundreds parted with their cash Saturday as the contents of two of his homes went under the auctioneer's hammer.
Bidders flocked to the Sheraton Hotel and Towers for a chance to buy the infamous scammer's luxury belongings — including a Steinway piano, his size 8-and-a-half monogrammed slippers and even his underpants.
The slippers, featuring the initials "BLM" in gold lettering, pooled with several other items, sold for $6,000, while the lot containing Madoff's unmentionables went for $1,700, according to the New York Daily News.
More than 1,000 online bidders joined the auction, which raised more than $2 million, the paper said. The big sellers were Ruth Madoff's 10.5-carat engagement ring, which sold for $550,000, and a grand piano that was purchased for $42,000, the News reported.
"I was going to buy another piano, so why not buy one with a little history to it?" John Rodger, 81, from East Islip, L.I., told the News.
The auction, handled by sellers Gaston and Sheehan, offered 489 lots which were seized by the U.S. Marshals after Madoff was arrested for swindling $65 billion from investors.
He's now serving 150 years in prison.
The proceeds from the auction will go towards a fund for his victims.
Zach Zaman, 27, told the paper he bought a rug for $30,000, though it had been listed at an estimated $3,000.
"I wish it went for less, but it's a good investment," he told the paper.
Zaman, from Queens, said his father had sold Madoff the rug ten years ago.
"I think it will be more valuable now with all that's happened," he said.
"It's something people will talk about."
