NEW YORK -- Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's wife asked to stay in her $7 million Manhattan penthouse and wanted to take a fur coat with her before federal marshals seized the property.

A federal official informed of Ruth Madoff's departure from her apartment Thursday tells The Associated Press that when marshals said she couldn't take her coat, she left carrying just a straw bag.

The official wasn't authorized to discuss the details of Ruth Madoff's departure and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Marshals seized the property at about noon Thursday; a judge says it must be sold to help pay back investors who lost billions to Bernard Madoff's financial fraud. He was sentenced earlier this week to 150 years in prison.