Crime & Punishment

Mark Madoff, the 46-year-old sone of Ponzi swindler Bernie Madoff, hung himself in his Manhattan apartment yesterday. The son hung himself from a dog leash wrapped around a beam in the apartment's living room while his two-year-old son slept in another room.
The son of the swindler killed himself on the second anniversary of his father's arrest for defrauding clients of millions of dollars. Bernie Madoff was arrested after Mark and his brother went to authorities with information regarding his father's Ponzi scheme.
Bernie Madoff ruined many wealthy families who entrusted their fortune to his care. Many of his former clients lost their entire fortune in the investment banker's scheme and several former clients killed themselves in the days after the Ponzi scheme was revealed. The father's scheme even took advantage of long-time friends.
Bernie Madoff was quickly tried and convicted of massive fraud and will likely spend his remaining days locked in a federal prison in North Carolina.
But today, with the death of his son, Bernie Madoff is finaly paying the price for his crime. He will sit in his prison cell knowing that his actions led to the death of his own son. In this case, the punishment fits the crime.
I was visiting Palm Beach in the days just after Madoff's arrest, when word of the lost millions started to come out. The fear in that wealthy community was palpable. Many of Madoff's biggest clients lived in the area, behind gated walls. But it was soon very clear that many of these wealthy families were facing ruin after trusting Madoff with their fortunes.
Although there were certainly tragic stories of ruined lives, I have trouble sympathizing with the victims of Madoff's scheme. After all, all such schemes depend upon the greed of the victims in order to succeed. Madoff was able to steal millions from wealthy investors by promising far greater returns that they could receive from other investments, returns that should have seemed impossible to wealthy, sophisticated investors.
Lawyers and accountants will spend decades attempting to record a small fraction of the funds Madoff abscounded. The court fights will go on long after Bernie Madoff is dead and gone.
The courts were able to seize much of what remained of Madoff's ill-gotten fortune. They auctioned off his property, his jewels and yacht in order to reimburse his victims. They put his in shackles and put him behind bars for the rest of his life. But the death of his own son is probably the worst punishment the swindler could have received, a penalty far beyond the power of the courts to impose. In the little time Bernie Madoff has left on earth, he will every day have to face his role in the destruction of his own son. I can't think of a more powerful punishment.