SINS OF THE FATHERS

by Bill Breakstone, December 13, 2010


“The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.”
EURIPIDES (484-406 BC), Phrixus

An American tragedy played out in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 11th. Bernie Madoff’s 46 year-old son, Mark, committed suicide in his SOHO apartment on the two-year anniversary of his father’s arrest, with his two-year-old son sleeping in the next room. He had sent numerous E-Mails to his wife Stephanie, who was vacationing with her four-year-old daughter at Disney World in Florida, asking her to look after his son. She had called her father, who went to the apartment and found the body of Mr. Madoff.

In an article in yesterday’s Washington Post, the Madoff’s attorney, Martin Flumenbaum was quoted as saying “How ironic it is . . . to blame the very two individuals [Mark Madoff and his brother Andrew] who uncovered and reported the fraud, saving the state more than $170 million, for not uncovering it sooner. Mark and Andrew had no prior knowledge of their father’s crimes and contacted the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC immediately after their father told them he had defrauded his investment advisory clients.”

The Post went on to say that “law enforcement officials said Sunday that they had no direct contact with either of the brothers or with Bernard Madoff’s brother, Peter, in the last year, and said no charges were imminent. . . . In February, Mark Madoff’s wife petitioned a court to change her last name and the last names of their two children, saying her family had gotten threats and was humiliated by the scandal.”

The New York Times quoted Mr. Flumenbaum as stating that his client was “an innocent victim of his father’s monstrous crime who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo.” The paper said that “charges have not been filed against any of the immediate family members, and their lawyer has said publicly that neither Mark Madoff nor his brother has ever been notified by prosecutors that they were the subjects of a criminal investigation.”

Dozens of lawsuits had been filed in recent weeks by Madoff Trustee Irving Picard. Just last Wednesday, he included the brothers as defendants in an $80 million lawsuit he brought against the London-based international arm of Madoff’s business. Mr. Picard was quoted by The Post as saying on Saturday that “This is a tragic development and my sympathy goes out to Mark Madoff’s family.”

Nevertheless, the Madoff Trustees wanted their pound of flesh, and they got just that and more—165 pounds all told. Tragic indeed!

Madoff’s suicide will leave many unanswered questions about the family’s involvement in the scandal. But the fact is, as noted above, there were no standing criminal charges, nor any pending. It is difficult for believers in fair play and judicial principles not to feel sympathy for the remaining family members, especially Stephanie Madoff and her two young children.

As Euripides wrote: “The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.” Indeed!