The Bernie Madoff swindle has driven a wedge between some the elderly residents of the Devonshire at PGA National retirement resort.

The fancy compound, on the grounds of PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, was home until he died March 12 to Jerry Horowitz.

Jerry Horowitz

And Horowitz, 80, was in a tough spot: He made news as founder of the tiny CPA firm that consistently gave Madoff’s business a clean bill of financial health, Friehling & Horowitz. Indirectly, that partly enabled Madoff to run his $65 billion-Ponzi scheme for decades.

But when rumors started at Devonshire that Horowitz and his wife were quickly running out of money because they, too, invested with Madoff, some residents planned to show the kind of mercy that Madoff never granted his clients.

They discussed helping Horowitz by paying for the $5,500-a-month fee for his condo so that he and his wife wouldn’t have to leave, a source familiar with the inner workings of Devonshire told Page2Live.

When Horowitz died, the resident council, an advisory board, was about to ask fellow retirees and management to chip in.

Not sure how they would’ve fared, however. Another group was adamantly opposed, causing friction in the usually relaxed compound.

Horowitz died of cancer on the day Madoff pleaded guilty to defrauding investors. And just Wednesday, Horowitz’ son-in-law and CPA partner, David Friehling, was arrested by the FBI in connection with the scheme. The New York Post earlier this week reported that G-men interviewed Horowitz days before he died but never charged him.

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