NEW YORK — The eldest son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff hanged himself by a dog leash in his Manhattan apartment today, the second anniversary of his father’s arrest in a multibillion-dollar 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 two-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 authorised 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. He and his brother Andrew have said they were unaware of their father’s crimes.
But the pair and other Madoff relatives have remained under investigation and been named in multiple investor lawsuits accusing them of profiting from the Ponzi scheme.
Just days ago, a court-appointed trustee filed a lawsuit seeking to recover any money from the fraud scheme that had been paid to members of the Madoff family, including Mark Madoff’s two young children.
His body was discovered after his wife, Stephanie, became concerned when he sent an e-mail to her last night or early this morning that someone should check on their two-year-old son, law enforcement officials said. Madoff’s wife, who is at Disney World in Florida with her four-year-old daughter, sent her stepfather to the home. The toddler was found unharmed, along with a dog. (AP)
