Bernard Madoff scheme's top beneficiary found dead

A Florida billionaire who was a top beneficiary of Bernard Madoff's $65bn (£40bn) Ponzi scheme has died, apparently by drowning in the swimming pool of his mansion in the exclusive seaside enclave of Palm Beach.

Jeffry Picower, 67, was found by his wife and housekeeper shortly after midday on Sunday. Emergency services were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the Good Samaritan medical centre.

An accountant turned wealthy investor, Picower was a friend of Madoff's and was named in court papers as the biggest beneficiary of returns from the Wall Street fraudster's corrupt investment empire.

Although Picower insisted he was unaware of any wrongdoing, bankruptcy trustees for Madoff's firm sued him for $7.2bn earlier this year, claiming that he "knew or should have known" that his phenomenal payouts were fraudulent and that, at a minimum, he had "failed to exercise reasonable due diligence".

Madoff, considered the biggest fraudster in Wall Street history, is serving a 150-year sentence for theft, fraud and money laundering at Butner prison in North Carolina.