Madoff's luxury penthouse seized

US marshals exit the building where former financier Bernard Madoff and his wife Ruth owned an apartment

Proceeds from the sale of the property will go toward reimbursing victims

US marshals seized the $7m Manhattan penthouse of imprisoned fraudster Bernard Madoff, forcing his wife Ruth to move elsewhere.

A spokesman for the US Marshals Service said Mrs Madoff was present when agents took possession of the apartment.

On Monday, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for a massive fraud that robbed investors of $65bn (£40bn).

Proceeds from a sale of the property and its contents could be used to help reimburse Madoff's victims.

Mrs Madoff, 67, later left the apartment but it was not immediately clear where she went to live.

"Restitution for the victims is the government's top priority," said Joseph Guccione, the US Marshal for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

"Ruth Madoff has vacated the residence and surrendered all saleable personal property within the residence to the United States Marshals Service."

Court documents said the apartment's contents include a Steinway piano valued at $39,000, clocks, lamps, lighting fixtures and sconces worth about $1.7m; paintings, prints and photographs of $1.6m and other valuables.

In a deal agreed with prosecutors, Mrs Madoff agreed to give up any claims to $80m in assets and was left with $2.5m in cash. She also forfeited rights to $2.6m in jewellery, a mink coat valued at $12,500 and a Russian sable worth $36,000.

The deal includes the New York apartment, an $11m residence in Palm Beach, Florida and a property worth $3m on New York's Long Island.