Bernie Madoff won't attend son's funeral

Convicted swindler Bernie Madoff will not attend the funeral of his oldest son, Mark, but will hold his own service in prison, Madoff’s lawyer Ira Lee Sorkin said yesterday.

“Mr. Madoff will not be attending the funeral out of consideration for his daughter-in-law’s and grandchildren’s privacy,” Sorkin said.

Mark Madoff, 46, hanged himself inside his SoHo apartment with a dog’s leash on Saturday, the second anniversary of his father’s arrest on charges of orchestrating the biggest financial Ponzi scheme in history.

In a series of civil lawsuits, a trustee appointed to recover investors’ money sued Madoff’s wife, Ruth, sons Mark and Andrew, brother Peter and niece Shana for more than $244 million claiming they knew or should have known about the fraud.

Mark Madoff’s lawyer said he was an “innocent victim … who succumbed to two years of unrelenting pressure from false accusations and innuendo.”

Bernie Madoff, 72, is serving 150 years in prison in North Carolina for his fraud conviction.

Mark Madoff was found by his father-in-law, after sending e-mails to his wife and lawyer indicating the suicide. His 2-year-old son was asleep in a bedroom.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office last night said his body remained unclaimed. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie, his 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son.