Ponzi schemer Madoff's sister, husband found dead

The sister of late Wall Street fraudster Bernie Madoff was found dead with her husband in an apparent murder-suicide in Florida, authorities said on Sunday.

Sondra Wiener, 87, and her 90-year-old husband, Marvin, were from Boynton Beach. They were found unresponsive, with gunshot wounds, inside their residence.

"Detectives from the Violent Crimes Division arrived on scene to investigate further. After further investigation it appears to be a murder/suicide," the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The medical examiner will determine the official cause of death.

When contacted by phone, a woman identifying as their son David Wiener's wife requested privacy "at this time of grief."

"We are not making any comment at this time," she said.

Who is Bernie Madoff?

Madoff, the man behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, died in prison last year at the age of 82. He ran a ripoff pyramid scheme that conned thousands of people around the world. He was serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to fraud and other charges in 2009.

At the time of his death, court-appointed trustees had clawed back an estimated $14 billion (€11.7 billion) of the estimated $17.5 billion that investors had put into his business.

see/fb (Reuters, AFP)