Cops were searching for one of Bernie Madoff's sons yesterday, but not for the reason you may think.
Mark Madoff, the frazzled former trader at his father's firm, disappeared yesterday after an acrimonious argument with his wife, who, fearing for his safety, desperately called the cops, according to a published report.
That frantic call prompted a police search, which ended when Mark came back home, saying he had spent the night in a fancy hotel and planned to get help for his issues from a doctor, reports The New York Post.
The 45-year-old son of the notorious convicted Ponzi schemer also told police he had been under a lot of pressure lately, law-enforcement officials told the Post.
That's not surprising. Mark Madoff's vanishing act comes just two weeks after he, his younger brother, Andrew, his uncle, Peter, and cousin, Shana, were sued for almost $200 million by Irving Picard, the federal bankruptcy trustee managing the dissolution of Bernard Madoff's firm, where they all were employed.
Mark, who was known as the main guy at his father's investment firm, reportedly has a tendency to suffer depression and physical problems such as stomach troubles related to anxiety, reports the Post.
He allegedly got into a vitriolic argument with his wife, Stephanie, at about 8 p.m. last night and then stomped out of his SoHo apartment, only to come back an hour later and reignite the verbal warfare, sources told the paper. Mark stormed out of the house again, strode to a nearby parking garage where he keeps a scooter and sped off.
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Concerned when her husband hadn't returned home by 1:30 a.m., Stephanie called police to report him missing. Mark showed up the next morning, told his wife he had paid cash for a night at the SoHo Grand Hotel and check in under a pseudonym. Then he called the cops to clear things up and said he would seek help, the Post reports.
Mark Madoff's lawyer, Martin Flumenbaum, didn't immediately return the paper's call for comment.
The recently filed lawsuit by Picard claims Mark and the other Madoff relatives should have seen indications of Bernie's $65 billion scheme "but either failed to make sufficient inquiry or knew of the fraud, ignored it and profited from it."
Picard argues the firm was nothing more than a "family piggy bank" that Madoff's relatives used to support extravagant lifestyles.
Mark Madoff, who netted up to $5 million a year, married his second wife, Stephanie, in a lavish wedding on Nantucket in 2003, reports the Post. The duo later shelled out nearly $7 million for a 3.3-acre property and home on the island.
