US Authorities raised over $1 million for victims of Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme after buyers sometimes paid 20 times the original estimates at an auction of diamond jewelry and other goods that belonged to the swindler and his wife, Ruth.



A businessman from Missouri shelled out $100,000 on Mrs Madoff’s jewelry pieces, including a gold charm bracelet for which he paid $3,500 - $2,500 above the estimate. Two pairs of Cartier diamond earrings owned by Mrs Madoff were sold for $70,000 each, considerably exceeding their $9,800 and $21,400 estimates.



Madoff’s watches attracted far less attention. One of the prize lots — a Rolex Monoblocco, called the Prisoner’s Watch because the timepieces were sold to British prisoners of war during World War II — sold for $65,000, considerably under the maximum value of $87,500.



The sale of a 1935 Rolex watch that had been valued at up to $54,000 was withdrawn after bids stopped at $35,000.