Mark Madoff, son of Bernie Madoff, Found Dead

Mark Madoff, son of jailed financier Bernie Madoff, was found dead in his apartment on Saturday.  The younger Madoff had apparently committed suicide.  Though they have not been charged with anything, both Mark and his brother Andrew were under investigation for participating in the crooked financial dealings that landed their father in jail.  Bernie Madoff is now serving 150 years in prison for bilking thousands of investors out of billions of dollars in a giant Ponzi scheme.

Both Madoff brothers worked at the trading desk at their fathers firm Madoff Investment Securities, reportedly on a side project that was not directly related to the investment-scheme-gone-wrong.  Bernie Madoff claimed

that his family had no knowledge of the firm's illegal dealings.  In December of 2008, the Madoff brothers revealed that their father had confessed to illegal dealings in the asset management side of the firm.  Bernie Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud the next day.

Mark Madoff's apparent suicide casts more doubt on how much the family knew of Bernie Madoff's crooked dealings.  Was Mark Madoff afraid of what would be revealed as the investgation of him and his brother, or was he consumed with guilt because of his role in turning on his father?  With the lavish life that they lead, and the entire family's involvement in the firm, it's hard to believe they had no knowledge.  However, the elder Madoff founded the firm before Mark Madoff was born.  Could he have sheltered his sons from everything?  According to the L.A. Times, the threats and disgrace the Madoff family faced was so much that Mark Madoff's wife petitioned the court for permission to change her name.