WASHINGTON: Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, accused of masterminding a massive investment fraud, has been handed an ethics lesson by thieves who stole a statue from his Florida mansion, and promptly returned it.

Robbers who swiped a 10,000-dollar statue from Madoff’s estate near Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec 22, dropped it off at a nearby country club where Madoff was a member, signing “The Educators”.

Hanging from the 1.2 metre statue, which depicts two lifeguards sitting on a raised stand, was a note, reported the Palm Beach Post newspaper. “Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return Stolen Property to rightful owners. Signed by - The Educators,” the note said.

The statue was not damaged and police are investigating the robbery, said the daily. Madoff, 70, is under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment on a 10-million-dollar bail.

He is so far the only person charged in an alleged 50-billion-dollar Ponzi, or pyramid scheme in which major banks, ultra-wealthy private investors, universities, charities and Jewish organisations were among the victims.—AFP