Son of Wall Street fraudster Madoff found hanged

12/12/10 03:14 CET

world news

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One of the sons of convicted Wall Street fraudster Bernard Madoff was found hanged in his New York apartment on Saturday.

Mark Madoff, 46, took his own life on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest, a family lawyer said.

Mark and his brother Andrew were also under investigation but no criminal charges have been filed.

Both brothers worked for Bernard Madoff’s investment firm, which collapsed when its dodgy deals were exposed at the height of the credit crunch two years ago.

Madoff ran a so-called Ponzi scheme worth 50 billion euros.

A Ponzi scheme is when purported returns are paid out to existing investors from money invested by new clients.

His swindle was uncovered when some tried to withdraw over five billion euros but he was unable to produce the money.

The 72-year-old is now serving a 150-year jail term.

Madoff’s victims have filed a lawsuit in New York in a bid to recover their losses.

It names a number of European banks, including Bank Austria and Italy’s UniCredit.

But both companies contest that they hold assets linked to the scam.

More about: Bernard Madoff, Death, Inquiry

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