Ruth Madoff, the wife of one of the most reviled swindlers in history, has agreed to give up her potential claim to more than $80 million worth of assets, keeping just $2.5 million in cash in an agreement reached with federal prosecutors.

The settlement with the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan was approved late Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin, who is scheduled to sentence her husband, Bernard Madoff, on Monday in a final courtroom stand that will seal his legacy as one of the world's most successful thieves.

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