#Bernie Mader's son commits suicide

[5847 Dead, 990 since 1/20/09]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/11/bernard-madoff-son-mark-
hanged

[One down, one to go]
Bernard Madoff's son Mark found hanged

Mark Madoff found hanged in New York, two years to the day after his
father turned himself in over billion-dollar fraud

Bernard Madoff (left) with his wife Ruth and son Mark, who was found
dead in his New York apartment. Photograph: GI/BM/Getty Images

Mark Madoff, the eldest son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, has
been found hanged in his downtown Manhattan apartment on the second
anniversary that his father turned himself in to authorities.

His death, which was reported to the police by his father-in-law at
7.30am today, came days after he was named in a new lawsuit by the
liquidators of his father's empire.

"He was found hanged in his apartment. It was an apparent suicide,"
police spokesman Paul Browne said. But authorities said he left no
suicide note.

Mark Madoff and his brother, Andrew, were under investigation but had not
faced any criminal charges in the $50bn (£31bn) Ponzi scheme that led to
their father being jailed.

His death also came on the cutoff date for trustees looking to clawback
losses from the fraud to file final lawsuits.

On Wednesday, Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for the
liquidation of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities, the fraudster's
main US firm, named all the directors of the London subsidiary in a new
lawsuit.

The high court complaint – which named Mark and his brother Andrew, their
uncle Peter, as well as Sonja Kohn, who has been charged separately for
other Madoff-related fraud – will attempt to recoup $80m (£50.5bn).

The move to open Bernard Madoff's London operations to scrutiny once
again followed the decision by the Serious Fraud Office in February not
to take any action against Madoff Securities International (MSIL) or its
directors due to "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect
of conviction".

On 11 December 2008, Bernard Madoff summoned his sons to his home to tell
them his investment business was "one big lie".

Mark and Andrew both worked on a trading desk at the firm, on a side of
the business that was not directly involved in the Ponzi scheme.

"Mark remains unalterably bitter about his father's deception and the
injury his father has caused," a spokeswoman for the two men told the
Wall Street Journal last week. "Andy was also deeply impacted by his
father's deception."

Neither had talked with his father or mother in two years. That decision,
she said, was made out of choice and also because of legal threats still
hanging over the men.

A year ago Picard sued several members of the family, including the
brothers, accusing them of failing to detect the fraud while living
lavish lifestyles financed with the family's ill-gotten fortune.

The lawsuit accused Mark Madoff of using $66m (£41.7m) he received
improperly to buy luxury homes in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mark and his wife Stephanie bought
a $6.5m home in Nantucket, Massachusetts in 2008. It is currently for
sale.

After the initial furore of the scandal died down, Mark tried
unsuccessfully to get a job in trading before starting a company making
applications for iPads.

But the taint of the scandal could not easily be brushed off. His wife
found the glare of publicity and the notoriety attached to her partner's
name so uncomfortable she changed her name from Madoff to Morgan.

Mark recently had been using an email address that does not include his
first or last name, a friend noted.

In March last year, Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 counts of fraud
and was subsequently sentenced to the maximum of 150 years behind bars
for fleecing hundreds of investors out of tens of billions of dollars.
The scam is widely referred to as the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Just before he was sentenced, he said: "I am responsible for a great deal
of suffering and pain. I understand that. I live in a tormented state
now, knowing of all the pain and suffering that I have created."

--
Information has never been so free. Even in authoritarian countries
information networks are helping people discover new facts and making
governments more accountable.- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
January 21, 2010