It was common practice for Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff's relatives and employees to whip out the company credit card to charge tens of thousands of dollars a month, according to court records.
The American Express statements, filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, cover three months last year, but total more than $307,000, according to a report in the New York Post.
Madoff's two sons and wife weren't shy about pulling out the company plastic. Son Mark Madoff charged nearly $81,000 in July of 2008, with $77,000 of the expenses coming from charter flights. Andrew Madoff left a measly 5.6 percent tip on a $1,066.41 meal at the renowned Per Se restaurant in Manhattan, according to one statement.
The size of the expenses varied, from an $8.11 Starbucks charge to wife Ruth's $2,000 purchase at the Giorgio Armani store in Paris, the paper reported.
Of the 18 card-holders, 15 were Madoff firm employees. Court papers show that sister-in-law Marion Madoff, daughter-in-law Deborah West Madoff, and the captain of Madoff's yacht, Richard Carroll also had cards that they used them liberally.
The spending helped Madoff rack up a whopping 791,814 "Membership Rewards" points as of Dec. 31, 2007.
Madoff bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard filed the AmEx statements to help show how Madoff used his securities firm as a "personal piggy bank" to fund his luxurious lifestyle and shower his family and friends with cash.
