Among the pressures Mark Madoff faced was a strongly worded lawsuit by Irving Picard.

Almost a year after the multibiliion dollar fraud conducted by his father, Bernard Madoff, was revealed, both Mark and Andrew Madoff were sued by Mr. Picard, the trustee gathering assets for Bernard Madoff's victims. Also named were their uncle Peter and cousin Shana, who worked with them at the firm. Mr. Picard accused Mark Madoff in the October 2009 lawsuit of receiving at least $66.9 million improperly through the investment company.






"Mark Madoff lived a high-end lifestyle with homes in Manhattan, Nantucket, and Greenwich, Conn. Investment firm funds paid for all aspects of his lavish lifestyle from the purchases of his high-end homes to the mattress and box spring he slept on, the television he watched in his home gym, and the outdoor shower in his home," the lawsuit said.



According to Mr. Picard, Mark received "astronomical compensation"— $29.3 million from 2001 to 2008, including bonuses of $4.8 million in 2006 and more than $9 million in 2007.



He said Mark deposited a total of $745,482 into seven customer accounts he held and his family held, but redeemed $18.1 million.



"It was—or at the very least, should have been—obvious to Mark that the massive gains reflected in his customer account statements did not reflect actual securities transactions or market conditions," the suit said.



In one account, opened in 1998, no money was ever invested, but account records reflected shares of Dell that were purportedly purchased in early 1997, 18 months before it was opened, Mr. Picard alleged. In 1998, nearly $2 million was allegedly redeemed from the account.



Mr. Picard alleged that Andrew Madoff withdrew $17 million from his accounts over the years, also with an investment of less than $1 million. Mr. Picard described Bernard Madoff's firm as a "family piggy bank" that relatives used to support lavish spending habits.



A lawyer for the sons said they strongly disagreed with Mr. Picard's "baseless" complaint and were seeking to have it dismissed. At a hearing in October, their lawyer, Martin Flumenbaum, said the sons had been "incredibly victimized by their father's sociopathic fraud."



"The time has come for the sins of the father not to be visited on the children," he said.



Mark and Andrew Madoff agreed with Mr. Picard not to transfer or sell certain assets.








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