Shame that killed Madoff's son
Source: Agencies |
December 13, 2010, Monday
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HE was never charged in the case that sent his father to prison after thousands were swindled of their life savings, but for two years the eldest son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff still bore the burden of a name that meant fraud to the world.
On Saturday, the second anniversary of the day his father was arrested in the worst investment fraud in American history, Mark Madoff, 46, was found dead in the living room of his SoHo loft apartment in Manhattan. He was hanging from a black dog leash while his two-year-old son slept nearby.
Close friends said he was despondent over press coverage of his father's case, the ongoing criminal investigation of family members and his struggle to rebuild his life.
The intense scrutiny approaching the anniversary "became too much for him," said one.
Mark Madoff's wife, Stephanie, sent her stepfather to the couple's US$6 million apartment after he e-mailed her at Disney World in Florida, where she was on holiday with their four-year-old daughter. In the messages, he told her he loved her and that someone should check on two-year-old Nicholas, police said. He left no suicide note.
Madoff had told friends he was struggling to find steady employment and was upset by coverage of his father's case, including a slew of stories last week about investor lawsuits.
"Mark Madoff took his own life today. This is a terrible and unnecessary tragedy," his attorney, Martin Flumenbaum, said in a written statement. "Mark was an innocent victim of his father's monstrous crime who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo."
Mark Madoff and his brother, Andrew, who notified authorities their father had confessed to them the day before he was arrested on December 11, 2008, have said they were unaware of his crimes. But they have remained under investigation and been named in the multiple civil lawsuits accusing them of profiting from the scheme.
A lawyer for Mark's mother, Ruth Madoff, said: "She's heartbroken."
Bernard Madoff, 72, swindled a long list of investors out of billions of dollars. He admitted that he ran his scheme for at least two decades, cheating thousands of individuals, charities, celebrities and institutional investors. Losses are estimated at around US$20 billion, making it the biggest investment fraud in US history. He is serving a 150-year prison term in North Carolina.
On Saturday, the second anniversary of the day his father was arrested in the worst investment fraud in American history, Mark Madoff, 46, was found dead in the living room of his SoHo loft apartment in Manhattan. He was hanging from a black dog leash while his two-year-old son slept nearby.
Close friends said he was despondent over press coverage of his father's case, the ongoing criminal investigation of family members and his struggle to rebuild his life.
The intense scrutiny approaching the anniversary "became too much for him," said one.
Mark Madoff's wife, Stephanie, sent her stepfather to the couple's US$6 million apartment after he e-mailed her at Disney World in Florida, where she was on holiday with their four-year-old daughter. In the messages, he told her he loved her and that someone should check on two-year-old Nicholas, police said. He left no suicide note.
Madoff had told friends he was struggling to find steady employment and was upset by coverage of his father's case, including a slew of stories last week about investor lawsuits.
"Mark Madoff took his own life today. This is a terrible and unnecessary tragedy," his attorney, Martin Flumenbaum, said in a written statement. "Mark was an innocent victim of his father's monstrous crime who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo."
Mark Madoff and his brother, Andrew, who notified authorities their father had confessed to them the day before he was arrested on December 11, 2008, have said they were unaware of his crimes. But they have remained under investigation and been named in the multiple civil lawsuits accusing them of profiting from the scheme.
A lawyer for Mark's mother, Ruth Madoff, said: "She's heartbroken."
Bernard Madoff, 72, swindled a long list of investors out of billions of dollars. He admitted that he ran his scheme for at least two decades, cheating thousands of individuals, charities, celebrities and institutional investors. Losses are estimated at around US$20 billion, making it the biggest investment fraud in US history. He is serving a 150-year prison term in North Carolina.
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