Picower drowned following heart attack

PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. philanthropist Jeffry Picower, accused of profiting from a huge Ponzi scheme, drowned Sunday after suffering a heart attack, a family attorney said.

Picower was found Sunday at the bottom of the family's pool in Palm Beach, Fla., by his wife, Barbara. Picower, 67, had heart problems and Parkinson's disease, The New York Times reported Monday.

Picower was also under pressure, facing lawsuits concerning an alleged $7 billion he earned from investing in New York trader Bernard Madoff's firm. Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence for running a Ponzi scheme that lost an estimated $65 billion for investors.

Attorney William Zabel said an autopsy conducted by the Palm Beach County medical examiner confirmed the death was caused by drowning following "a massive heart attack."

When news of the Madoff scheme broke, Picower was listed as a victims. But the tables were turned when court trustee Irving Picard filed suit claiming Picard's account with Madoff was "so riddled with blatant and obvious fraud," that Picard should have picked up on that long ago.