The result of the role that Picower’s charitable giving played in all of this is the amount Picower withdrew for his foundation is separate from the quarterly withdrawals for his personal accounts. During the 1995-2008 time span, Picower took out about $291 million from Madoff for the foundation account. During the same period, the foundation doled out more than $235 million in donations, according to tax forms.

Now, Jeffry Picower (PICK’-ow-er) was found by his wife Sunday at the bottom of a pool at the couple’s sprawling oceanside Palm Beach mansion. He died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

The 67-year-old was No. 371 on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans, with a net worth of $1 billion.

Police are investigating the death as a drowning, but haven’t ruled anything out. Palm Beach County authorities planned an autopsy Monday.

Some victims of Madoff’s vast Ponzi scheme say Picower was the fraud’s biggest beneficiary. In a lawsuit to recover assets, trustee Irving Picard demands he return the allegedly bogus profits.

It’s reported that Before Chin announced the sentence with Madoff standing at the defense table, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a tie, and looking thinner than his last court appearance in March. He gave no noticeable reaction when the sentence was announced.

He also showed no emotion earlier in the hearing as he listened to nine victims spend nearly an hour describing their despair. Some openly wept. Others raised their voices in anger.

“Life has been a living hell. It feels like the nightmare we can’t wake from,” said Carla Hirshhorn.

“He stole from the rich. He stole from the poor. He stole from the in between. He had no values,” said Tom Fitzmaurice. “He cheated his victims out of their money so he and his wife Ruth could live a life of luxury beyond belief.”