Andrew Madoff, Son of Bernie Madoff, Dies at 48
Andrew Madoff, son of multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff, died Wednesday at a New York City hospital at the age of 48.
Andrew Madoff's lawyer told the press that his client died from mantle cell lymphoma, according to a report from The Washington Post. Madoff was diagnosed with the disease in 2003 and had recently relapsed.
Madoff was the last living child of Bernie and Ruth Madoff. His brother, Marc Madoff, hanged himself in 2010, two years to the day after Bernie was arrested for his involvement in what is likely the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
The two Madoff sons reported their father to authorities after he admitted to them that his business was "all just one big lie." Andrew Madoff called turning his father in a "father-son betrayal of biblical proportions."
Like his older brother, Andrew Madoff spent almost his entire career at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, a family-run finance business based in Manhattan. Both sons grew to become high-level executives but denied involvement in the Ponzi scheme that their father ran.
Bernie Madoff's clients included many notable investors, banks, universities and charities. In his scheme he would take money from an investor and use that money to pay previous investors, giving the perception of a healthy investment. The scheme collapsed in 2008 when investors asked to withdraw money that Madoff didn't have.
It's been estimated that Madoff took as much as $20 billion in principal investments. He is now serving a 150-year sentence on a litany of felonies, including securities fraud and money laundering.
A lawsuit was filed against the Madoff sons, claiming that they knew about their father's true activities and demanding that they repay some $153 million they received illegally.
"I'm hoping that when people have heard my story," Andrew Madoff told The New York Times, "they will judge me a little bit less harshly."
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