Bernie Madoff’s Son Andrew Dead Of Cancer At 48

Andrew Madoff, the last surviving son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, has died of cancer at the age of 48, NBC New York is reporting.

The family’s lawyer, Martin Flumenbaum, issued a statement to People.

“Andrew Madoff has lost his courageous battle against mantle cell lymphoma. He died peacefully at Sloan Kettering on September 3, 2014, surrounded by his loving family.”

Andrew Madoff had been battling mantle cell lymphoma since 2003, but the disease had been in remission prior to October, 2012. The younger Madoff blamed the return of the cancer in part on the stress of dealing with his father’s problems.

In 2010, almost two years to the day after Bernie Madoff’s arrest, Madoff’s other son, Mark Madoff, committed suicide, according to CNBC.

“One way to think of this is the scandal and everything that happened killed my brother very quickly. And it’s killing me slowly.”

Andrew and Mark both worked in their father’s financial business, though they were in a side business that wasn’t connected to Bernard’s crimes. In fact, it was the sons who turned their father in for running the Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of some $65 billion.

Although neither Madoff brother was ever charged with any crime, the extent to which they were involved in the elder Madoff’s scam remains unclear. In July of this year, Andrew was sued for $153 million, according to The Washington Post, that the brothers were alleged to have gotten fraudulently. The suit also alleged that the brothers knew of their father’s crimes, and attempted to cover them up.

“Madoff family members and other employees were behind the scenes deleting emails that could have exposed the fraud.”

To his dying day, Andrew Madoff would not forgive his father for the pain he caused; not only his brother’s death, but his estrangement from his mother, and an eventual divorce from his wife.

“I will never forgive him for what he did. He’s already dead to me.”

Bernie Madoff, now 76, is currently incarcerated at Butner Federal Correctional Institution in North Carolina, serving a 150-year sentence. He did not attend his son Mark’s funeral, although whether that is because he chose not to, or was forbidden, is not clear as of this post. Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Chris Burke told CNBC,“The institution’s chaplain typically notifies an inmate of a family death or emergency, if the family requests we do so.”

Burke also said that decisions on allowing inmates to attend family members’ funerals are handled on a case-by-cases.

A family spokesperson told the media that Andrew Madoff’s funeral will be private.

Image courtesy of: NBC New York