July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Con man Marc Dreier’s luxury Manhattan condominium sold today for $8.2 million, 21 percent less than what he paid two years ago, in an auction that attracted more than 40 bidders.

The buyer at the auction at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan declined to identify himself. A broker who attended and who declined to be identified said the purchaser was Ajit Jain, head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s reinsurance unit. Jain didn’t return a call for comment.

The buyer of the 3,000-square-foot apartment at One Beacon Court got the apartment at a discount to the most recent comparable sale there. The last recorded sale at Beacon Court was a 3,058 square-foot unit on the 49th floor. It sold in May for $12 million, city records show. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay creditors in Dreier’s bankruptcy case and victims of Dreier’s fraud, said Salvatore LaMonica, trustee in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

“We’re going to split it,” said LaMonica, referring to an agreement between personal bankruptcy creditors and the U.S. Attorney’s office. Among Dreier’s debts to be settled is the $5 million mortgage on the condo, LaMonica said.

Dreier, founder of New York law firm Dreier LLP, was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison for defrauding hedge funds of more than $400 million and stealing money from clients. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Dreier to pay $387.7 million in restitution.

Before being jailed last week, Dreier, 59, was under house arrest in the apartment at 151 East 58th St., watched 24-hours a day by armed guards. Wires from a monitoring device are still affixed to the ceilings.

46 Bidders

There were 46 registered bidders for the auction, including prospective buyers from California and London, said David Maltz, the auctioneer whose Plainview, New York-based company, David R. Maltz & Co. Inc., was hired to liquidate Dreier’s real estate and possessions.

Bidders were required to submit a $500,000 certified check to qualify. The winning bidder could use the deposit toward the purchase price. The auction winner must close by Aug. 28, according to published bidding rules.

Inside Bankruptcy Court in lower Manhattan, bidding began at $3 million and escalated in increments of $100,000. In less than five minutes, the winning bidder had offered $8.1 million, and the offers halted. After some coaxing from the auctioneer, a second bidder offered $8.15 million, generating applause among those in the room, most of whom had quit bidding.

Price Cap

The winner upped the bid to $8.2 million.

“I was allowed less than $6 million,” said Giampiero Rispo, president of Domus Realty in New York, who was bidding on behalf of a European client who had not visited the apartment. “If he would have seen it, he would have given me another million,” Rispo said, declining to name the bidder.

Howard Silverman, 73, had seen the apartment several times with his wife Phyllis, and the couple, who split their time between Boca Raton, Florida, and the east side of Manhattan, decided to set a higher limit.

“At $7.5 million, she said: ‘That’s it,’” Silverman said, speaking of his wife.

Personal Effects

Marc Dreier’s Manhattan apartment is still home to a half- eaten raspberry peach pie, a collection of Christian Liaigre furnishings and seven pairs of black Ermenegildo Zegna shoes, mostly size eight.

The 34th-floor apartment is listed as a four-bedroom unit that was converted to three. One of the bedrooms was used as an entertainment area. A closet in that room contains a subwoofer by Velodyne and a Crestron Electronics Inc. home automation panel that controls lights and audio as well as a screen display in the master bedroom that reads “Welcome to the Dreier Residence.” The unit includes four bathrooms and monthly common charges of $4,180. Annual real estate taxes are $16,469.

The successful bidder will take possession of everything a judge ordered Dreier to leave behind -- including flat-panel televisions and a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose Brut -- plus some things Dreier abandoned.

Those items include a photograph of Dreier with singer Diana Ross and a poster for the movie “After Innocence,” a documentary about convicted criminals exonerated by DNA evidence.

Luxury Amenities

The apartment is sold “as is” and so there’s no guarantee that the food will be removed from the refrigerator prior to the place trading hands, said Richard Maltz, vice president of real estate auctions for Maltz & Co.

The 55-story building, designed by architect Cesar Pelli, has a fitness center with swimming pool and sundeck, a business center, children’s playroom, concierge and valet parking. The tower is also the headquarters of Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News.

The bankruptcy case is In re Dreier LLP, 08-15051, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The personal bankruptcy case is 09-10371, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: Oshrat Carmiel in New York at ocarmiel1@bloomberg.net; Alex Kowalski in New York at akowalski8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 21, 2009 17:10 EDT