$1m raised in auction of Bernie Madoff’s effects

More than $1m was raised at an auction of Bernie Madoff's personal effects in New York on Saturday. It will make a small dent in the billions owed to the many investors Madoff cheated - but it was more than the auctioneers Gaston & Sheehan expected, with buyers forking out 20 times the estimates in some cases, especially for Ruth Madoff's jewellery.

More than 700 people crowded into the ballroom of the New York Sheraton for the auction of items confiscated by the US Marshals Service from the Madoffs' three homes in Manhattan, Montauk and Palm Beach. Another 1,000 made bids online. Among the buyers were:

♦ Dave Goodboy, a New York hedge funder. He paid $7,500 for a ring buoy from Madoff's yacht, the Bull. Goodboy called it a Wall Street version of a relic from the Titanic.

♦ Charlie Blumenkehl, a New Jersey fund manager. He bought Madoff's golf clubs for $3,600. "I just wanted Bernie's name on the clubs," he said. "But I don't want his vibes to be transmitted. My fund is doing better than his."

♦ Lester Miller, a 77-year-old businessman from St Louis, Missouri. He spent $100,000 on jewellery which, he told the New York Times, he planned to give to his daughters and granddaughters along with a "lesson" to be learned from the Madoffs: "If it's too good to be true, it's not right."

♦ Norman Chesky, a record label owner. He spent $500 on a tree-stump table and said: "I'm going to cut it open and see if he stuck any money in it."

♦ To the cheers of the Sheraton crowd, an anonymous purchaser blew $14,500 on a blue satin New York Mets baseball jacket with the name Madoff stitched across the back. The estimate had been $500-$700. ·