Madoff's wine collection is auctioned

NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) -- The contents of the liquor cabinet of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff brought in $41,500 for his scammed investors, auctioneers said.

Bottles of wine and liquor seized by federal authorities from Madoff's mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., were auctioned off Wednesday by Morrell Wine Auctions of New York, CNNMoney.com reported.

A number of items in the auction wouldn't have passed muster if not for their unique provenance, Morrell said.

"Some of the bottles are better viewed as conversation pieces rather than valued for their contents, but conversation pieces they are," the auction house said in a statement.

Madoff, currently serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison in North Carolina, owned mostly conventional French wines, it said.

The most expensive lot sold at the auction was a 12-bottle case of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, vintage 1996, which sold for $6,800.

The U.S. Marshals Service said the money from the auction will be used to compensate victims of the Madoff fraud.

The contents of the Palm Beach mansion once owned by the Madoffs will go on the auction block in June, the service said.