Madoff's wine fetches $41,530 for Ponzi victims

Every little drop helps.

The eclectic wine and spirits collection belonging to imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff fetched USD 41,530 at an online auction held on Wednesday.

All 59 lots, ranging from fine Bordeaux to the types of small bottles often found in hotel minibars, found buyers, with 54 selling above the highest estimated pre-auction price.

The winning bids exceeded the roughly USD 15,000 to USD 21,000 the auction run by Morrell & Co Fine Wine Auctions in New York had been expected to raise.

"Proceeds from this auction are going towards compensating Madoff's victims, so we couldn't be happier with the results," auction director Kimberly Janis said in a statement.

As expected, the top lot was a case of 1996 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, a Bordeaux, which went for USD 6,800. It had been expected to go for USD 3,200 to USD 3,800.

A case of Veuve Clicquot, yellow label brut, also fared well. It sold for USD 1,500, above its USD 240 to USD 350 pre-auction estimate and roughly triple what it might cost at retail.

Meanwhile, a lot of 2-ounce bottles of Bombay Dry Gin, Grand Marnier and Smirnoff Vodka commanded a USD 300 winning bid, well above the expected USD 10 to USD 20.

Storage conditions of the lots is not known.

Madoff's wines were seized by the U.S. Marshals Service, which often auctions seized property to benefit crime victims.

An auction last November of Madoff's furniture, monogrammed clothing and other personal effects raised about USD 2 million.

Madoff, 73, is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina federal prison.