Madoff Son Found Dead of Apparent Suicide

ABC- Two years to the day, and almost the precise hour and minute, of his father's arrest by the FBI, Mark Madoff, son of the disgraced Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, was found hanged inside his Manhattan apartment, an apparent suicide according to police.

Madoff had reportedly learned in the last week that he faced possible criminal charges in both London and New York.

Madoff left behind several emails, including one to his wife, Stephanie, telling her that he loved her, but no explanation of why he chose to take his life.

"I love you," the email said. "... send someone to take care of Nick."

In a separate email to his lawyer Martin Flumenbaum, Mark Madoff wrote, "No one wants to hear the truth take care of my family," according to law enforcement sources

He also sent one to his wife and to his father-in-law asking that someone come to get the couple's two-year-old child.

Upon receiving the emails, which were written in the early morning hours after 4 a.m., Stephanie, who reportedly was in Florida with at least one of the couple's other children, contacted her father. He came to the apartment and found his son-in-law hanged in the living room around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. The two-year-old was sleeping peacefully in a bedroom nearby, police sources said.

Madoff had used a black dog leash to hang himself, police said. His labradoodle, Grouper, was found nearby unharmed.

"At about 7:30 this morning police responded to 158 Mercer Street," said New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly. "Mark Madoff was found hanging from a pipe in the living room of the apartment. Mr. Madoff apparently left some email notes. There was no note at the scene, but [he] communicated with members of the family."

Madoff's body has been moved to the Medical Examiner's office in Manhattan, and an autopsy is expected tomorrow.

According to sources close to the family no one could have seen the suicide coming, although Madoff, 46, had been distraught, felt unemployable, and was sure that he would never be able to extricate himself from the thickets of notoriety.

"If he asked the question, 'Would my wife and children be better off without me?' the answer would probably be yes,' '' said one person familiar with his circumstances.

Madoff and his children were being sued for all of their wealth and he faced the prospect of criminal prosecution in two countries.

Madoff's wife Stephanie had filed papers earlier this year to change her last name and the name of her son from Madoff to Morgan.

He had put his Nantucket home up for sale this summer for $7.5 million. It's still listed as being up for sale, but the price has been dropped to $7 million.

According to a source familiar with Mark Madoff, in the last two days leading up to the anniversary Mark had become "very distressed" due to media coverage and the lawsuits filed by the bankruptcy trustee seeking to recover funds for Madoff victims. He was "not handling it very well," said the source.

Martin Flumenbaum of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, an attorney representing Mark and Andrew Madoff, stated: "Mark Madoff took his own life today. This is a terrible and unnecessary tragedy. Mark was an innocent victim of his father's monstrous crime who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo. We are all deeply saddened by this shocking turn of events."

Ira Sorkin, Bernie Madoff's attorney, said, "This is a great tragedy at many different levels."

Two years ago, shortly after his father summoned him to his posh upper East Side Manhattan home to disclose the $60 billion Ponzi scheme that has cost so many their life's savings, he told friends that despite his own involvement in his father's business affairs, he was stunned when he learned of the scam. His lawyer had instructed him to have no communication at all with his father, or with his mother, Ruth Madoff, who Mark Madoff is said to have considered "an enabler."

Eleanor Squillari, Bernie Madoff's long-time personal secretary who has always believed the sons were innocent, was in tears this morning on learning the news.

"I have a hard time believing this. Mark was so sweet. He was a wonderful person and I cared about him very much. This doesn't seem like the Mark we knew."

The trustee appointed by the court to recover funds for Madoff investment fraud victims, Irving Picard, had filed numerous lawsuits against Mark and other Madoff family members seeking to recover billions.

In a statement, Picard said that Mark Madoff's death "is a tragic development and my sympathy goes out to Mark Madoff's family."

On Thursday, Picard named Mark Madoff and other family members as respondents in an $80 million suit filed against Madoff Securities International Ltd. (MSIL), the London office of the Madoff investment company.

The deadline for Picard to file suits is today at midnight.

The Bureau of Prisons cited privacy concerns in declining to answer whether Bernie Madoff had been notified of his son's death. Officials told ABC News that normally the notification would be made by staff members at the institution housing the inmate. In Madoff's case, BOP policy allows an inmate at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina to be considered for a furlough or an escorted trip to the funeral. But it is by no means guaranteed that a request by Madoff would be granted.

Madoff gave a surprisingly early Christmas bonus and card to the workers at the garage where he parked his black Range Rover.

Garage worker Claudio Siguencia told ABC News he was surprised when Mark Madoff came to the garage on Thursday and gave him a card that said "Merry Christmas from Mark and Stephanie" and a $400 check. Claudio, who said Madoff seemed "sad," was a generous tipper who usually gave his bonus just a few days before Christmas.

Siguencia said Madoff gave him a hug Friday night and said, "Goodbye."

Nikolay Reva, a salesmen at the Prada store near the family's apartment, said Mark Madoff and family often shopped at the store and that Madoff was down and depressed after his father's Ponzi scheme unraveled.

"You can see the person deteriorating after after what happened," said Reva. "He was still friendly just wasn't as talkative."

Reva said the Madoffs had stoped coming into the store as regularly two years ago.

"They were very nice people -- very genuine," said Reva. "He was very friendly. My associate is crying right now."

"I don't think it's the last of this tragedy," said Nick Casale, a former senior NYPD official who provided security for Mark Madoff after his father's arrest.

Madoff sentenced to 150 years

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A federal judge sentenced Bernard Madoff, the convicted mastermind of the largest and most sweeping Ponzi scheme ever, to the maximum sentence of 150 years in federal court Monday.

Judge Denny Chin of U.S. District Court in New York announced the sentence just moments after Madoff apologized to his victims.

Chin, who called Madoff's crimes "extraordinarily evil," said the maximum sentence was important for deterrence, and also for the victims, many of whom erupted into applause after the judge announced the sentence. Many hugged and some of them broke down in tears.

"The sentence imposed today recognizes the significance of Bernard Madoff's crimes," Lev Dassin, acting U.S. attorney, said in a written statement.

The 150-year sentence is the maximum that federal prosecutors in New York requested, based on the number of Madoff's victims, the amount of money he stole and the extent of the damage he caused. Judge Chin said that the Federal Department of Probation had recommended a 50-year sentence.

Shortly before receiving his sentence, Madoff offered an apology, which he delivered facing Judge Chin.

"I live in a tormented state for all the pain and suffering I created," he said. "I left a legacy of shame. It is something I will live with for the rest of my life."

Madoff said he was not asking for forgiveness and not offering any excuses for his behavior. "How can you excuse betraying thousands of investors?" he asked. "How can you excuse deceiving hundreds of employees? How can you excuse lying to and deceiving your wife who still stands by you?"

Madoff then said, "I apologize to my victims. I will turn and face you." Addressing the victims in the courtroom directly, he offered, "I am sorry. I know it will not help you."

Victims had urged the judge to dole out the stiffest punishment possible. "We implore you to give the maximum sentence at a maximum prison for this deplorable low life," said one of the victims in court before Madoff spoke. "This is a violent crime without a tangible weapon."

Many of Madoff's investors were wiped out financially by the scam and sent letters to Judge Chin requesting he spend the rest of his life behind bars. Nine of the letter-writers spoke in court Monday.

Speaking on behalf of his wife and looking at Madoff, the same victim said, "I have a marriage made in heaven. You have [a] marriage made in hell, and that's where you'll return. May God spare you no mercy."

Through her attorney, Madoff's wife Ruth released a statement regarding her husband, "who stunned us all with his confession and is responsible for this terrible situation in which so many now find themselves."

"I am embarrassed and ashamed," she said, in the prepared statement. "Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused. The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years."

Madoff, who was stripped of his property in a legal action Friday, confessed on March 12 to running a massive Ponzi scheme. He pleaded guilty to 11 criminal counts, including fraud, money laundering, perjury, false filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other crimes.

Lawyer Ira Lee Sorkin, who represents Madoff, asked for a 12-year sentence. In a letter to the judge, Sorkin explained that his 71-year-old client "has an approximate life expectancy of 13 years" and isn't likely to outlive the requested sentence by more than a year.

Sorkin did not return messages from CNNMoney.com shortly after the sentencing.

Madoff orchestrated the scam by masquerading his investment firm as a legitimate business. But the business became a front for a Ponzi scheme, in which the scammer uses fresh money from unsuspecting investors to make payments to more mature investors, creating the false appearance of legitimate returns.

Madoff sent statements to victims claiming that their investments had grown several times over, but in actuality he had stolen, not invested, their money. Investigators believe that he had been running his scam since at least the 1980s, bilking thousands of investors until he finally ran out of money in December 2008.

In a $170 billion legal judgment against Madoff Friday, the government announced it had seized all of his property in a deal that also forces his wife to give up homes and property worth millions. The value of all the assets will eventually be used to compensate -- or partially compensate -- victims, based on how much they invested in Madoff's firm.

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation, an organization that shields investors in brokerage firms, will also pay up to $500,000 for any eligible claimant who lost money to Madoff, based on how much they put in.

Thus far, federal investigators have identified 1,341 investors in Madoff's firm, who have losses exceeding $13 billion. They're still tallying the damage. Victims have until July 2 to file a claim with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Acting U.S. attorney Dassin said the investigation was continuing.

"We are committed to bringing additional charges against anyone else who bears criminal responsibility," said Dassin, in a written statement. "At the same time, we are focused on tracing, restraining and liquidating assets to maximize recoveries for the victims."

Since March, Madoff has been incarcerated in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, a holding facility for convicts awaiting sentencing. He will probably be transferred to a medium-security federal prison, according to prison consultants.

Alan Ellis, attorney and author of the "Federal Prison Guidebook," believes that Madoff will probably get sent to Federal Correctional Institute Otisville or FCI Ray Brook, both in upstate New York, FCI Fairton in New Jersey or FCI McKean in Pennsylvania.

Feds want 150 years, $170B from Madoff

NEW YORK (CNN) -- As prosecutors asked to jail Bernard Madoff for 150 years, a U.S. District Court judge Friday entered a preliminary order calling on the convicted Ponzi schemer to forfeit more than $170 billion in assets, prosecutors announced.

Madoff's wife, Ruth, will be allowed to keep $2.5 million in funds "in settlement of the claims she would have otherwise brought against the property," acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin said.

Madoff, who pleaded guilty to 11 counts, including fraud, money laundering and perjury, is to be sentenced Monday. The forfeitures amount to all of his assets.

Included in the forfeitures are millions of dollars in loans made to family members, employees and friends, all personal property, including paintings, jewelry and furniture, millions of dollars in investment and banking accounts and several pieces of property.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to sell a $7.5 million co-op apartment in New York, a $7 million property in Montauk, New York, and a $7.45 million property in Palm Beach, Florida, along with several cars and boats.

Meanwhile, Dassin filed paperwork with the court Friday asking that Madoff be sentenced to 150 years to ensure that the former NASDAQ chairman would remain in prison for the remainder of his life and "promote general deterrence."

Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzischeme is said to have defrauded thousands of investors under false pretenses. The scheme, which spanned decades, has generated a fraud loss of more than $13 billion.

"This is more than thirty-two times the baseline level of loss that would carry a sentence of life under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines," Dassin wrote.

Madoff promised his clients a high return with limited risk, but in reality early investors were paid with later investors -- and nobody realized huge gains. Some of the victims of the scheme included individuals and nonprofit organizations.

"His so-called 'investment business' was a fraud; his frauds affected thousands of investors in the United States and worldwide," Dassin wrote.

Madoff pleaded guilty on March 12 and has since been in jail at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

Madoff's lawyer believes his 71-year-old client should serve only 12 years in prison.