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 pool at his oceanside mansion and died yesterday, 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 at 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.
“There wasn’t anything noted as far as trauma or anything to the body,’’ he said, adding that “it did appear that he was swimming because he was wearing swimming trunks.’’
William D. Zabel, a lawyer for the Picower family, said he understood that Picower had experienced “cardiac issues’’ in the past, and had Parkinson’s disease. “This is a personal tragedy, and the family is grieving,’’ Zabel said. “It will be making no further statement.’’
The police department in Palm Beach said an investigation into the death was a routine step in all drowning cases. As a result, the Picower home in Palm Beach “has been secured and detectives remain on the scene at this time,’’ the department reported yesterday evening.
Picower had been accused by jilted investors of being the biggest beneficiary of Madoff’s schemes.
In a suit to recover Madoff’s assets, trustee Irving Picard demanded Picower return more than $7 billion in bogus profits.
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. A portrait of the Picowers hangs in the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT. They gave the center $50 million in 2002, which was, at the time, the largest grant from a single foundation the university had ever received.
The foundation also gave $1.5 million for diabetes and metabolism research to Dr. Jeffrey Flier, dean of 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.
Picower had asked that the lawsuit be dismissed, saying it was unsupported by the facts.
According to Zabel, settlement discussions with the trustee were underway “and progress was being made’’ when he spoke with Picower on Friday.
Jonathan Landers, an attorney representing a large group of victims, said in an e-mail that it was impossible to tell what effect Picower’s death would have on efforts to recover funds lost in Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme.
“While there are allegations regarding his knowledge of the Madoff fraud and his possible liability to investors, none have been proven,’’ he wrote.
