PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jeffry Picower, a philanthropist accused of profiting more than $7 billion from the investment schemes of his longtime friend Bernard Madoff, was found at the bottom of the swimming pool at his oceanside mansion and died Sunday, police said. He was 67.
Picower’s wife discovered his body and pulled him from the water with help from a housekeeper, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Medical Center about 1:30 p.m.
Palm Beach police are investigating the death as a drowning but have not ruled out anything on the cause of death.
Picower’s body showed no visible injuries, said Joseph Sekula, spokesman for the Palm Beach Fire Department.
Picower had been accused by jilted investors of being the biggest beneficiary of Madoff’s schemes.
In a lawsuit to recover Madoff’s assets, trustee Irving Picard demanded Picower return more than $7 billion in bogus profits.
Picard did not immediately respond to a phone message left at his office Sunday. Madoff’s attorney, Ira Sorkin, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Picower and his wife started the Picower Foundation in 1989, which has given millions to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Human Rights First and the New York Public Library. It also funded diabetes research at Harvard Medical School.
The foundation, whose assets were managed by Madoff, said in its 2007 tax return its investment portfolio was valued at nearly $1 billion.
After the Madoff scandal broke in December, the Picower Foundation said it would have to cease grant-making and would be forced to close.
But the trustee’s lawyer said Picower’s claims that he was a victim “ring hollow” because he withdrew more of other investors’ money than anyone else during three decades of investing with Madoff and should have noticed signs of fraud.
