Madoff's wife living with her sister

• Tweet

BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Ruth Madoff, wife of convicted Ponzi scheme swindler Bernard Madoff, is living with a sister in Florida who was also scammed in Madoff's schemes, officials say.

Ruth Madoff is living in Boca Raton with her older sister Joan, 73, and her brother-in-law Robert Boman, 76, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday.

The Bomans reportedly lost their life savings by investing with Madoff. They have been trying to make living expenses by operating a shuttle service from their condominium, driving neighbors to the airport and anywhere else they need to go, the newspaper said.

"They lost everything. They almost lost their house," a neighbor said. "They do odds and ends to get by. They run a shuttle service to the airport. Some people here use it. And they do the driving. I've seen Joan at 5 a.m. going to work."

Ruth Madoff is creating a new life for herself since her husband was sentenced to 150 years in prison for swindling billions of dollars from investors, CBS News reported earlier this week.

"For all practical purposes, the Madoff marriage was split apart by that 150-year prison sentence that will keep Madoff behind bars for the rest of his life," said Madoff biographer Diana Henriques, appearing on CBS' "The Early Show." "So my sense is that Ruth is now focusing all her efforts on rebuilding a relationship with her surviving son, Andrew, and her grandchildren."

Before her husband was arrested, the Madoffs lived in a Manhattan penthouse and two mansions, one in Palm Beach County. The Palm Beach home, with seven bedrooms, was sold after the federal government listed it for $6.5 million.

An auction of contents at the home earlier this year generated $500,000, with the money being used to compensate Madoff's victims. Another Madoff son, Mark, committed suicide in December.