Bernie Madoff's Mets tickets sold for a bargain

Would you pay a premium to get the New York Mets season tickets once owned by Bernie Madoff? Apparently not.

The Wall Street Journalreports (subscription required) that "Someone got a bargain with Bernard Madoff's New York Mets season tickets.The two seats in the Delta Club Gold section behind home plate sold for $38,100 Tuesday on eBay, well below the list price of about $56,000."

The sale was conducted by the bankruptcy trustee charged with liquidating Bernie L. Madoff Investment Securities.

It's easy to understand why the tickets didn't have more value: They cover the 75 remaining games this season at the brand new Citi Field -- and something tells me Mr. Madoff hasn't found time to make it to any games during the first few weeks of the season. So you won't feel any direct connection to Madoff while you're sitting in the seats.

But here's an interesting thing: Who's the bigger crook? Madoff or Citigroup, which used taxpayer money to pay for a stadium endorsement deal. Say what you want about Madoff, but he stuck to ripping off his clients and misappropriating their funds. Citi actually managed to stick it to every single taxpayer.