Andrew Madoff, Bernard Madoff’s last surviving son, was under investigation for possible involvement in his father’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme until the day he died from cancer earlier this month.
Andrew Madoff had long maintained that he and his brother, Mark, who hanged himself in 2010, knew nothing of the massive fraud.
Andrew Madoff was under investigation for possible involvement in his father’s Ponzi scheme until the day he died (photo The New York Times)
However, two federal law enforcement officials said investigators never believed the brothers were unaware of the fraud and both were under investigation until their deaths. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
Andrew Madoff left behind a $16 million estate. A court-appointed trustee is taking aim at that the sons’ money, filing a lawsuit this summer accusing them of using money from their father’s scheme as their “personal cookie jar”.
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Andrew Madoff died on September 3 at the age of 48 after a long battle with cancer, his lawyer announced.
The son of convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff suffered from mantle cell lymphoma.
“Andrew Madoff has lost his courageous battle against mantle cell lymphoma,” lawyer Martin Flumenbaum said.
“He died peacefully at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on September 3, 2014, surrounded by his loving family.”
Bernard Madoff, now 76, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to operating a massive Ponzi scheme estimated to have cost investors $17 billion in lost principal. He used to steal from thousands of average investors, charities, celebrities and others worldwide.
Andrew Madoff died from mantle cell lymphoma aged 48 (photo Getty Images)
His other son, Mark Madoff, committed suicide on December 11, 2010, on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest.
Both Madoff sons denied knowing about the fraud and were never criminally charged in connection with the scheme.
Mark and Andrew Madoff worked at the market-making and proprietary trading division of their father’s Manhattan-headquartered business.
Bernard Madoff’s younger brother, Peter Madoff, 68, who ran the market-making division of the family business, pleaded guilty to doctoring records in 2012 and was sentenced to a 10-year prison term.
Ruth Madoff, 73, the Ponzi scheme architect’s wife, has not been charged. Like her sons, she has maintained she had no knowledge of the fraud.
Andrew Madoff’s funeral arrangements will be private, the attorney said.
According to the Lymphoma Research Foundation, mantle cell lymphoma is a relatively rare blood cancer that got its name because the tumor cells originate from the “mantle zone” of the body’s lymph nodes.
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