Post date: Dec 11, 2010 8:45:36 PM
Police find Bernard Madoff's son Mark Madoff dead in apparent suicide as the Madoff family faces suits by trustee for investors.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 11, 2010) REUTERS - Mark Madoff, the elder son of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff, was found hanged in his New York City apartment in an apparent suicide, police and his
lawyer said on Saturday(December 11).
Mark Madoff, 46, was found dead on the two-year anniversary of the arrest of his father. Bernard Madoff, 72, is now serving 150 years in prison after confessing to running a decades-long Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of billions."At the scene was Mark Madoff's father in-law. Mark Madoff was found hanging from a pipe in the living room of the apartment. Mr. Madoff apparently left some e-mail notes. There was no note at the scene but had communicated with members of the family," New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
The Madoff sons and other family members had worked for their father's financial firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, which crumbled when the Ponzi scheme was revealed. Defrauded Madoff investors have long viewed the swindler's sons, wife and other family members suspiciously, arguing it is unfathomable that they could not have known about Bernard Madoff's lies.
Earlier this week, the trustee sued five Madoff grandchildren for millions purportedly transferred to them.
No family members have been criminally charged in the case and they reject accusations that they were aware of the fraud.
Mark Madoff had been distraught over speculation of criminal charges, said a person familiar with activities but who was not authorized to speak publicly about him. There had
been no indication that any charges were imminent, the source said.
In the past two years, Mark Madoff has not spoken with either of his parents, the source said. The person said that Mark Madoff has tried unsuccessfully to get a Wall Street
trading job in the wake of his father's arrest.