I think KARMA found Jeffry

Palm Beach billionaire and philanthropist Jeffry Picower, described as the biggest beneficiary of Bernard Madoff's fraud, died on Sunday after he was found lying at the bottom of the pool at his home, police said.

Police were investigating the death of the 67-year-old investor as a drowning, local media reported.

Picower was pulled unconscious from the pool of his multimillion-dollar oceanside home, called Casa del Sud, by his wife and a housekeeper. He was later pronounced dead, the Palm Beach Post reported quoting police and Fire Rescue officials.

Picower and his wife, Barbara, were friends of Wall Street financier Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme.

The trustee handling the Madoff fraud case, Irving Picard, said in court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York late last month that Picower, newly listed as one of the 400 wealthiest Americans by Forbes magazine, was complicit in the fraud.

Part of Picard's filing said: "Based upon the trustee's investigation to date, Picower was the biggest beneficiary of Madoff's scheme, having withdrawn either directly or through the entities he controlled more than $7.2 billion of other investors' money."

Picower was being sued for the $7.2 billion, $2 billion more than the trustee in the case demanded in May.

The Palm Beach Post reported he was not breathing when he was pulled from the pool and paramedics worked unsuccessfully for 20 minutes at the scene to try to revive him.

Local WPTV quoted the Palm Beach fire chief as saying he was told by Picower's wife and housekeeper that the elderly investor had gone swimming in the pool of his house and that 15 minutes later they found him lying at the bottom.

Marcia Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the Picowers' attorney William Zabel, said the family was devastated by the loss.

"Mr Picower did have health issues. He suffered from Parkinsons disease and did have heart-related medical issues," she said.