Ruth Madoff (/ˈmeɪdɔːf/ MAY-doff; née Alpern; born May 18, 1941) is the widow of Bernie Madoff, the convicted American financial fraudster who served a prison sentence for a criminal financial scheme until his death in April 2021. After her husband's arrest for his fraud, she and her husband attempted suicide in 2008. While she had $70 million in assets in her name, after her husband was imprisoned, she was stripped of all of her money other than $1–2 million, by the government and by the trustee for her husband's firm, Irving Picard.