fund managers and clients for having failed to perform due diligence. Picard’s general
philosophy was that people who invested with Bernie should only get what they put
in. If they withdrew more than they deposited, the difference should be given to victims
who put in money and got nothing out.88 The lawsuits claim that sophisticated
investors, banks, and accounting fi rms “chose to simply look the other way” rather
than investigate some obvious red fl ags.89
Victims gained renewed hope when Picard reached a $7.2 billion settlement with
the estate of Jeffrey Picower, making it the largest forfeiture to date in legal history.90
As noted earlier, Picower had invested $1.7 billion with Bernie and withdrew $6.7
billion.
Bernie’s imprisonment took a toll on him. In October, he experienced his fi rst
jail fi stfi ght. In December, he was hospitalized at Duke University Medical Center
in North Carolina for high blood pressure, though others reported he had a broken
nose and ribs from another prison fi ght.91
Bernie’s crimes also continued to take a toll on his family. Mark refused to see
Bernie or Ruth after his father’s arrest. He could not obtain another job on Wall
Street and was named in multiple lawsuits amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
His wife, Stephanie, fi led with the New York Supreme Court to change her last
name and those of their two children to her maiden name, Morgan. Reporters and
news cameras were staked outside his home and scorned family members wherever
they went. Victims harassed Mark and his family as they walked along the streets of
Manhattan or attempted to eat in restaurants.
December 11, 2010 was the second anniversary of Bernie’s arrest. A few days
earlier Stephanie left for a Disney World vacation with her and Mark’s 4-year-old
daughter. At 4 a.m., Mark e-mailed Stephanie asking that she send someone to care
for their 2-year-old son, who had stayed home with him. Then Mark, at age 46,
attached his dog’s leash to a metal ceiling beam in their $6 million downtown Manhattan
apartment and committed suicide by hanging himself.92 His tragic death will
negatively impact another generation of Madoffs. Upon hearing the news in prison,
Bernie cried.