Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,884 posts)
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 03:49 PM Sep 2014

Andrew H. Madoff, son of convicted financier, dies at 48

Source: Washington Post

By Emily Langer September 3 at 11:39 AM 

Andrew H. Madoff, who reported to authorities that his father and longtime Wall Street colleague, Bernard L. Madoff, had masterminded perhaps the largest Ponzi scheme in history, a multi-billion-dollar crime that Andrew described as a “father-son betrayal of biblical proportions,” died Sept. 3 at a hospital in New York City. He was 48.
....

Mr. Madoff was the only surviving child of “Bernie” Madoff, a once-revered financier who is now serving a 150-year sentence in federal prison for felonies including securities fraud and money laundering, and the former Ruth Alpern.

Their elder son, Mark Madoff, hanged himself on Dec. 11, 2010, exactly two years after Bernard Madoff’s arrest. Mark and Andrew had turned their father in to officials after a tearful confession in which he revealed that his business was “all just one big lie.”
....

As the U.S. economy crumbled in 2008, Bernard Madoff appeared to be under increasing stress. On Dec. 10, he asked his sons to accompany him to his Manhattan apartment, where he revealed that the business was a fraud and that he had no money.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/andrew-h-madoff-son-of-convicted-financier-dies-at-48/2014/09/03/49c10da4-0e81-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html

20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

valerief

(53,235 posts)
1. I wonder if he grabbed someone's gun and shot himself while being handcuffed behind his back.
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 04:00 PM
Sep 2014

I hear that sort of thing is possible nowadays.

(Yes, I know the link says lymphoma.)

I imagine his death is a convenience to someone.

 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
4. In my mind, that entire bunch knew what crookedness was going on.
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 04:15 PM
Sep 2014

How could they NOT? It went on and on and on, and everyone was have a great time wining and dining it up, traveling the world on Other People's Money.

The SEC also dropped the ball on this, big time, as we know from accounts of those who crunched the numbers, and knew that he was a scammer - they alerted the SEC, which did nothing.

I'm sad for his children, but that's about all I the sympathy I have for any of the Madoff clan. There is no doubt in my mind that plenty of his victims were sent to early graves due to the stress of having been hoodwinked, so while I don't wish bad things on people, karma does come around.

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,884 posts)
5. "... they alerted the SEC, which did nothing."
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 04:20 PM
Sep 2014

That would be Harry Markopolos.

Investigation of Madoff
During 1999, Markopolos learned that one of Rampart's frequent trading partners, Access International Advisors, was dealing with a hedge fund manager who consistently delivered net returns of 1–2% a month. Frank Casey, one of Rampart's principals, met with Access CEO Thierry de la Villehuchet, and found the manager was Bernie Madoff, who was operating a wealth management business in which his clients essentially gave him carte blanche to invest the money as he saw fit. Casey and Rampart's managing partner, Dave Fraley, asked Markopolos to try to design a product similar to Madoff's split-strike conversion, in hopes of luring away Access from investing in Madoff.

When Markopolos obtained a copy of Madoff's revenue stream, he spotted problems right away. To his mind, Madoff's strategy was so poorly designed that there was no way it could make money. The biggest red flag, however, was that the return stream rose steadily with only a few downticks—-represented graphically by a nearly perfect 45-degree angle. According to Markopolos, anyone who understood the underlying math of the markets would have known they were too volatile even in the best conditions for this to be possible. As he later put it, a return stream like the one Madoff claimed to generate "simply doesn't exist in finance." He eventually concluded that there was no legal way for Madoff to deliver his purported returns using the strategies he claimed to use. As he saw it, there were only two ways to explain the figures—-either Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme (by paying established clients with newer clients' money) or front running (buying stock for his own account, based on knowledge about his clients' orders). Markopolos later said that he knew within five minutes that Madoff's numbers didn't add up. It took him another four hours to mathematically prove that they could have only been obtained by fraud.
....

With the help of two of his colleagues at Rampart, Casey and fellow quant Neil Chelo, Markopolos continued to probe into the Madoff operation. What they found concerned him enough that he filed a formal complaint with the Boston office of the SEC during the spring of 2000. However, the SEC took no action. Later on, Michael Ocrant, the editor-in-chief of MarHedge, joined the effort and wrote an article questioning Madoff's returns, which generated no results. Markopolos sent a more detailed submission to the SEC a year later. He also offered to go to Madoff's headquarters undercover, obtain the trading tickets, and compare them with the Options Price Reporting Authority tape. This submission also passed without action.
 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
8. Yes, and notably, de la Villehuchet did commit suicide after
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 04:39 PM
Sep 2014

having lost his own personal fortune to the Madoff scheme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9-Thierry_Magon_de_la_Villehuchet

So you know, as I say, I feel bad for the grandkids, but not so much for anyone else. Maybe I'm being cruel, who knows.

NJCher

(35,421 posts)
9. I read about five books on the Madoff scandal
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 04:42 PM
Sep 2014

and Markopolos is a true hero. He kept at it, even though he was discouraged by the SEC. He knew that they were not listening to him. He was the right person with the right knowledge and in the right place at the right time, and few people could have done what he did.

The SEC was and still is a disgrace. They do nothing to protect the American people.

Sadly, our other agencies aren't doing what they are supposed to, either.


Cher

 

magical thyme

(14,881 posts)
10. as soon as they learned of it, they turned their father in
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 04:48 PM
Sep 2014

They were betrayed by their father too. Financially and also their integrity ruined by him.

Others' lost their fortunes. They lost their father too.

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
12. Even though Madoff should get 95% of the blame
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 05:08 PM
Sep 2014

his victims are not blameless. Greed drove them as well.

Who in their right mind would invest everything in one place and who in their right mind would expect 18% guaranteed return on their money?

LuckyLib

(6,814 posts)
15. And among Madoff's victims were folks who told others they were getting 18% return,
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 05:38 PM
Sep 2014

only to be told "that can't be right. Something is fishy here." And they held on, loving that $$$$ rolling in. Nobody, but nobody, was getting any 18% in real world markets. Madoff's "respectability" fooled many an individual and organization. But somehow, I think folks had an inkling. It all collapsed before they could get out.

 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
16. The story of his Ponzi scheme is a long one, and hinges upon
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 05:59 PM
Sep 2014

a few things, two of the most important (off the top of my head) were 1) word of mouth within the Jewish community; and 2) the fact that it was Madoff himself who approached 'investors'. (There's some good material out there about this, and if I have time to dig it up, I'll post some links here later.)

The salience of those two facts are not to advance racial stereotypes or anything, but rather to point out that from some accounts of his workings, he cultivated the air within an elite, cloistered minority (Palm Beach, for example, and certain neighborhoods in Manhattan) of being a sort of financial superman who was doing the impossible. And yes, some of these investors suspected he was front-running, so not sure how sympathetic they are as victims.

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
17. I agree
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 06:09 PM
Sep 2014

but the fact remains that no one puts all eggs in one basket no matter how sturdy and promising that basket may be.

I wouldn't put all my life's savings in one instrument, even if god guaranteed doubling my money every week. I may put 25% in such instrument, being happy with the overall return of my total holdings to be more than satisfactory.

Only those driven by greed would put all their life's savings into one instrument after having thrown caution to the wind.

frazzled

(18,402 posts)
11. It's like Greek tragedy, the House of Atreus
Wed Sep 3, 2014, 04:48 PM
Sep 2014

Sometimes I think they had to make this all up, it is so epic and dramatic in scale. This is the only member of the family whose tragedy is to be pitied, though, I think.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
19. Bernie has lost his sons.
Thu Sep 4, 2014, 02:37 AM
Sep 2014

Lymphoma for this one, and hanging for the other.

No parent should outlive their kids.


Talk about punishment!

Kid looked...sad:

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Andrew H. Madoff, son of ...