Mark Madoff, 46, was found dead Saturday in his Manhattan apartment. The city's medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. He reportedly was despondent over a slew of recent news stories about investor lawsuits related to his father's multibillion-dollar scheme and was struggling to rebuild his life.
His father is serving a 150-year prison term at a medium-security federal prison on North Carolina. Rules at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution do allow supervised furloughs for funerals of immediate family members, but they are available only to inmates with two years or less left on their prison terms, the New York Post reported today.
Security Traders Association of New York / AP
Mark Madoff, here in an undated photo, had not spoken to his father since he and his brother alerted authorities to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, according to a news report.
A white-collar felon typically can receive an emergency furlough to attend a funeral, Ed Bales, managing director of Federal Prisons Consultants, told the Post. "But this is a whole different ballgame."
"I would question whether they'd grant him a furlough because of heightened publicity," Bales said. "He could be a target. He could be shot."
If Madoff is granted permission to attend the service, he would be escorted by federal marshals, paid for by his family. He was likely notified of his son's suicide this morning by a prison chaplain, Bales said.
Madoff, 72, was convicted of swindling a long list of investors, including charities, celebrities and institutions, over at least two decades. Losses are estimated at around $20 billion, making it the biggest investment fraud in U.S. history.
Mark Madoff and his younger brother, Andrew, reported their father to authorities in December 2008, after he admitted to them that the business was "one big lie." The scandal splintered Madoff's family, and both brothers hadn't spoken to their parents since they turned their father in, according to The Associated Press.
The scrutiny approaching the anniversary of the arrest "became too much" for Mark Madoff, an unnamed source who had recent contact with him told the AP, adding that he was struggling to find steady employment and was upset by news coverage of the case.
"The pressure was mounting. ... He's been upset for two years," a source told the New York Daily News. "He's been trying to move on with his life, but he wasn't successful."
Mark Madoff's body was found Saturday morning, after he e-mailed his wife at Disney World in Florida, where she was vacationing with their 4-year-old daughter, telling her he loved her and that someone should check on their 2-year-old son, police said.
She sent her stepfather to the couple's apartment, where he found the body hanging from a black dog leash attached to a pipe in the living room ceiling. His young son, Nicholas, was asleep in the next room, police said. He left no suicide note.
A lawyer for Mark Madoff's mother, Ruth, said, "she's heartbroken." The lawyer, Peter Chavkin, had no further comment.
