Political & Elections

pima · Guru

RE: Was the money worth this? Mark Madoff commits suicide.

inthenews · Veteran Member

I should restate what I said. They can go after someone's estate after they are gone. But depending on where he put the money, whose name it is in and how the will was composed, seizing assets becomes more difficult after his death than if he were still alive.

Woodwork · Senior Member

Was the money worth this? Mark Madoff commits suicide.

...probably not worth it even to the people he stole the money from.

Though I am sure a good many of them wouldn't mind seeing him dead, they'd probably still think that loosing their money was too high a price to make this thieving coward dead.

pima · Guru

I have told Bullet I will never go to jail. The reason why is because I would kill myself first.

If I recall correctly it was Bernie's kids that turned him in, including Mark.

Honestly I don't think the devil or Hades has a place created yet for Bernie.

Not saying Mark was innocent, but imagine how hard it is to sell out your Dad.

inthenews · Veteran Member

Another possibility is that this was all quite clearly thought out. Killing himself before the end of the year means that his heirs won't pay the estate tax. They can't repossess assets from someone deceased, either, as I understand it.

SamuraiLandshark · Guru

Never underestimate the power of mental illness or depression and stress. Most of those that I have known that have taken their own lives have suffered from depression. One or many precipitating events usually tips the scales for suicide.

It could have been a hit, but it could easily have been the stress of this scandal on his family. Was he separated from his wife, or was she just travelling?

longprime · Guru

I've been reading various books on the financial collapse that we are in the midst of;

Too Big to Fail, recurring comment is the lack of Trust that caused the failure of the financial companies, but the Trust amongst the survivors saved the American Financial System.

In my peripheral observation, from the homeowner to the Bank/Investment House and back to the depositor, there was knowledge of the lack of Trust.

Madoff had a complete lack of Trust in his investors-hence he was able to do what he did for so long. It finally took someone who had the complete lack of Trust in Madoff to bring him down and someone else to prove how bad Madoff's scam really was.

BigG · Guru

You don't think rich and powerful folks do their own "hits" do you?

poetgrl · Senior Member

The article I read, which if I can find it, I'll link, was clear that he had not been spoken to in around a year.

The other explanation for his wife calling her father is just that she'd been trying to get in touch with Mark and could not, or he was talking suicide to her and she got scared and called her dad. (I doubt she would have called the police to check on their place, given all that has happened.)

Taxi- you are right, of course. But he might have found he actually liked life when he put himself together and started to take responisibity for things in a meaningful way. Now, nobody will ever know.

A "better man" IMO, would have started over doing something honorable for a living.

berurah · Senior Member

inthenews wrote:

Was Mark about to be indited? Are you all implying the wife may have done him in? That's an awful thought!

From the articles I've read, the wife was in FL when it happened and her two-year-old son was with her husband. I doubt she would have put her baby in jeopardy to take her husband's life. I don't think the wife did it, if indeed it proves not to be a suicide, although someone else certainly could have. As I understand it, the wife called her father to check on the two-year-old and the father found the body of his SIL and found the baby asleep.

inthenews · Veteran Member

Bernie was a sick, sick man. I can't decide if he was pure evil, caught up in something that snowballed, or there was something truly and radically wrong with him. Or all of the above. I know a family that was completely ruined by Madoff and another that was merely devastated, someone who turned down the chance to invest with him because it didn't "add up" and someone else who tried to get in years ago, but couldn't.

Was Mark about to be indited? Are you all implying the wife may have done him in? That's an awful thought!

-- Edited by inthenews on Saturday 11th of December 2010 09:00:30 PM

TutuTaxi · Veteran Member

I guess Mark Madoff decided he couldn’t live with the money and the public disgrace and he couldn’t live with the alternative (w/o the money). Starting over would mean giving up the money and life style.

It is difficult to believe he didn’t know what his father was doing and how eventually many innocent people would have their life savings decimated, while his family lived liked kings.

BigG · Guru

Its not paranoia if "they" are really out to "get" you.

poetgrl · Senior Member

BigG has his conspiracy theory which I am frighteningly close to wanting to buy into. G, you are going to turn me into a conspiracy theorist, which, given my youngest will be out of the house soon enough, would at least be another hobby. evileye

No, but seriously, when I read this, I turned to my husband and said, "The guy is 46 years old and in good physical health, and he should have just gone to Alaska and started over. He should have just gotten on a fishing boat and started over, or gotten a job working construction." You can always start over.

They'd have said, "Why are you here?"

He could have said, "I'm a Madoff."

People would have respected him for starting over. He owed it to his 2 yr old. JMO

berurah · Senior Member

^^I agree...it's an "apparent" suicide, and I was actually thinking the same thing. If it was a murder, then someone notified the wife (who was in FL) from Mark Madoff's computer addy that the two-year-old needed to be checked on. He was found sleeping in the house, along with a dog that was unhurt, when the body was found.

BigG · Guru

Maybe not a suicide....

It is a given that his family is devastated by the tragedy.

But who benefits or is protected by his death? Prosecutors don't have the guts to ask. "Suicide" closes a book that would be very dangerous to open.

berurah · Senior Member

As far as I understand, the sons, though under suspicion, had not been brought up on charges yet (weren't the sons the ones who actually turned their father in?).

One of the articles I read said that Mark Madoff's wife had petitioned to have her name and the names of her children changed because of death threats and such. IF these people were not complicit in the crime, this is a serious tragedy, and it sickens me to think of a man risking his family like that for pure greed.

Razorsharp · Guru

His name was mud. His mother lost her husband and her status. If it was going to happen, I am surprise it took two years. Very sad. As I recall there were some of Madoff's victims who committed suicide after losing everything they owned.

berurah · Senior Member

A two-year-old is left fatherless and a family is in tatters. I hope Bernie Madoff thinks his actions were worth the heartache he has caused for so many, including his own tiny grandson. :(

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Bernard-Madoff-Jailed-Financiers-Son-Mark-Madoff-Found-Dead-After-Apparent-Suicide-In-New-York/Article/201012215851811?lpos=World_News_First_Buisness_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15851811_Bernard_Madoff%3A_Jailed_Financiers_Son_Mark_Madoff_Found_Dead_After_Apparent_Suicide_In_New_York