As the glamorous wife of a multimillionaire, she lived the high life for long enough.
But with husband Bernard Madoff in jail for a $65billion swindle, wife Ruth has to get used to a life far less lavish then the one she once enjoyed.
The 71-year-old was spotted hauling a trash can outside her new home in Connecticut yesterday morning.
Dressed in a baggy grey hoodie and sweats, she cuts a forlorn figure as she also fetches a newspaper.
Mrs Madoff, once used to living in a Florida mansion, vacationing in a chateau on the French Riviera and sailing in luxury yachts, appears to be getting settled a life far more domestic.
She has cut ties with her husband after years standing by him following his Ponzi scheme which became the largest financial fraud in history.
Mrs Madoff recently moved from Boca Raton in Florida to Old Greenwich, Connecticut to live closer to her son Andrew and his fiancee Catherine Hooper.
Three years ago, she was vilified around the world for continuing to support her husband, who was jailed for 150 years.
In a past statement, she told the New York Daily News: 'I’ve moved back to the New York area for one reason: to spend time with my family, particularly Andy and my grandchildren, whom I love dearly.
Her eldest son Mark hanged himself on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest in 2011.
She added: 'I lost a son whom I loved dearly. I don’t talk to Bernie anymore, and I find it so hard to reconcile my feelings for the man I was married to for over 50 years.
Despite this, I’ve chosen to move forward with my life and focus on my remaining family, particularly my grandchildren.
Ruth Madoff had moved to southern Florida, where many of Bernie’s victims live, having lost her $7million yacht and her four multi-million-pound homes - in Manhattan, Long Island, the Cote d’Azur and Palm Beach, Florida - all auctioned off to compensate victims.
She had been living with her sister Joan Roman and her husband in a Florida condo until late last year, according to People magazine.
She spent her time delivering food to the elderly and infirm through Meals On Wheels and volunteering at a school in a blue-collar neighborhood, helping out in the classroom
She finally turned her back on Bernie when she discovered that he had been having a long-term affair with Sheryl Weinstein, the CFO of a Jewish charity Hadassah which he also swindled.
Mark Madoff, 46,hanged himself with a dog leash on the second anniversary of his father Bernie Madoff's arrest. He had wanted his mother to cut off all contact with his father.
Ruth and her sons barely spoke in the two years after his father's arrest because, Andrew Madoff said, he and his brother could not understand her decision to stay by their father's side.
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