Filed at 2:09 p.m. EST
NEW YORK (AP) — The eldest son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff hanged himself by a dog leash in his Manhattan apartment on Saturday, the second anniversary of his father's arrest in a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that swindled thousands of investors of their life savings, law enforcement officials said.
Mark Madoff, 46, was found hanging from a ceiling pipe in the living room of his SoHo loft apartment as his 2-year-old son slept in a nearby bedroom, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the death.
Madoff, who reported his father to authorities, has never been criminally charged in the biggest investment fraud in U.S. history, that has snared a half-dozen Madoff employees.
Mark Madoff and his brother Andrew have said they were unaware of their father's crimes. But they have remained under investigation and been named in multiple investor lawsuits accusing them of profiting from the scheme.
But a third law enforcement official said Saturday that Madoff's arrest was not imminent, and that investigators pursuing possible charges against him, his brother and uncle hadn't contacted him for more than a year. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mark Madoff killed himself on Saturday, said his lawyer, Martin Flumenbaum.
"This is a terrible and unnecessary tragedy," 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 was found by his father-in-law, after his wife, Stephanie, became concerned when he sent an e-mail to her Friday night or early Saturday morning that someone should check on their 2-year-old son, law enforcement officials said. Madoff's wife, who is at Disney World in Florida with her 4-year-old daughter, sent her father to the home, where he found Madoff's body. The toddler was found unharmed, along with a dog.
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 $20 billion, making it the biggest investment fraud in U.S. history.
He was arrested on Dec. 11, 2008, after confessing his crimes to his family.
The scandal put a harsh light on members of the family. The financier's brother, Peter, played a prominent role in the family's company. Mark and Andrew Madoff both worked on a trading desk at the firm, on a side of the business that wasn't directly involved in the Ponzi scheme.
In February, Mark Madoff's wife petitioned a court to change her last name and the last names of their two children, saying her family had gotten threats and was humiliated by the scandal.
A year ago, the court-appointed trustee trying to unravel Madoff's financial affairs sued several relatives, including Peter, Mark and Andrew, 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 $66 million he received improperly to buy luxury homes in New York City, Nantucket and Connecticut.
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Links...
The Madoff Liquidator - CBS 60 Minutes
Harry Markopolos on Madoff Fraud - CBS 60 Minutes
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The Madoff Chronicles - Vanity Fair
Did the sons know?
Friends of Mark and Andy Madoff tell Vanity Fair writer David Margolick that Andrew has called what his father did to him and his brother “a father-son betrayal of biblical proportions,” and has said that to categorize it as being blindsided would amount to the understatement of the century. But others, including Madoff alumni, don’t believe the boys could have been unaware of the scheme.
Margolick talks with their friends, surrogates, and former colleagues, and reveals that when Bernie Madoff broke the news of his Ponzi scheme to his sons, in the kitchen of his penthouse apartment, Mark was angry and Andrew was on the floor, sobbing. The spokesman for the sons tells Margolick that the fact that no one has come forward to implicate the two for involvement in the scheme is powerful proof that they weren’t involved.
Deborah, who worked for 24 years at the company and asked that her last name not be used, tells Margolick that “they wouldn’t have been able to do what Bernie did: they just didn’t have the evilness in them.” But she admits that other Madoff alumni don’t concur. “If I were to say that Mark and Andy are innocent, I’d get people looking at me like I’m absolutely nuts.”
Margolick reports that Mark is said to be obsessed with the scandal, huddled over his computer, hyper-scrutinizing every story and blog posting, and, when it suits him, answering e-mail instantaneously, but that Andrew has completely shut down. The day his father confessed to him, he skipped the office party, went home, and lay down on his bed—still in his overcoat and shoes—and stayed there for the next four hours, perfectly inert.