Ruth Madoff, the wife of Bernard Madoff, withdrew $15.5 million from a Madoff-related brokerage firm in the weeks before Bernard Madoff's arrest, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. (Subscription required)

According to the report, the Massachusetts Secretary of State claims in a complaint filed today that Ruth Madoff withdrew $5.5 million on Nov. 25 and $10 million on Dec. 10. The complaints states the withdrawal appears in documents from Cohmad Securities, which was co-owned by Bernard Madoff and which the Massachusetts office is investigating. Bernard Madoff was arrested Dec. 11 on allegations of perpetrating a massive Ponzi scheme.