Mark Madoff found hanged in New York, two years to the day after his father turned himself in over billion-dollar fraud

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Mark Madoff, the eldest son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, has been found hanged in his downtown Manhattan apartment on the second anniversary of the day his father turned himself in to authorities.

His death, which was reported to the police by his father-in-law at 7.30am today, came days after he was named in a new lawsuit by the liquidators of his father's empire.

"He was found hanged in his apartment. It was an apparent suicide," police spokesman Paul Browne said. But authorities said he left no suicide note.

Mark Madoff and his brother, Andrew, were under investigation but had not faced any criminal charges in the $50bn (£31bn) Ponzi scheme that led to their father being jailed.

His death also came on the cut-off date for trustees looking to clawback losses from the fraud to file final lawsuits.

On Wednesday, Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities, the fraudster's main US firm, named all the directors of the London subsidiary in a new lawsuit.

The high court complaint – which named Mark and his brother Andrew, their uncle Peter, as well as Sonja Kohn, who has been charged separately for other Madoff-related fraud – will attempt to recoup $80m (£50.5m).

The move to open Bernard Madoff's London operations to scrutiny once again followed the decision by the Serious Fraud Office in February not to take any action against Madoff Securities International (MSIL) or its directors due to "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".

On 11 December 2008, Bernard Madoff summoned his sons to his home to tell them his investment business was "one big lie".

Mark and Andrew both worked on a trading desk at the firm, on a side of the business that was not directly involved in the Ponzi scheme.

"Mark remains unalterably bitter about his father's deception and the injury his father has caused," a spokeswoman for the two men told the Wall Street Journal last week. "Andy was also deeply impacted by his father's deception."

Neither had talked with his father or mother in two years. That decision, she said, was made out of choice and also because of legal threats still hanging over the men.

A year ago Picard sued several members of the family, including the brothers, accusing them of failing to detect the fraud while living lavish lifestyles financed with the family's ill-gotten fortune.

The lawsuit accused Mark Madoff of using $66m (£41.7m) he received improperly to buy luxury homes in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mark and his wife Stephanie bought a $6.5m home in Nantucket, Massachusetts in 2008. It is currently for sale.

After the initial furore of the scandal died down, Mark tried unsuccessfully to get a job in trading before starting a company making applications for iPads.

But the taint of the scandal could not easily be brushed off. His wife found the glare of publicity and the notoriety attached to her partner's name so uncomfortable she changed her name from Madoff to Morgan.

Mark recently had been using an email address that does not include his first or last name, a friend noted.

In March last year, Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 counts of fraud and was subsequently sentenced to the maximum of 150 years behind bars for fleecing hundreds of investors out of tens of billions of dollars. The scam is widely referred to as the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Just before he was sentenced, he said: "I am responsible for a great deal of suffering and pain. I understand that. I live in a tormented state now, knowing of all the pain and suffering that I have created."

This article was amended on 13 December 2010. The original referred to recouping $80m (£50.5bn). This has been corrected.