( CNN ) -- The son and wife of convicted stockbroker Bernie Madoff said they had no inkling he was running a $ 50 billion Ponzi scheme until he came home on a December night three years ago and gathered the family together . `` He said , ' I have a confession to make . I 've been running a Ponzi scheme . '' He said , ' $ 50 billion dollars , ' '' recounted Madoff 's wife , Ruth , in an interview with CBS ' `` 60 Minutes '' Sunday night . Madoff 's youngest son , Andrew , also appeared on the show -- their first television interview since Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 of running the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history . `` He said , 'Everything I 've been doing is all a big lie , ' '' Andrew Madoff recalled . `` And then he just started sobbing . And I was -- I -- I was shocked . I -- it was -- I felt like my head exploded . I mean , I -- I do n't think if he had told me he was an alien I could 've been more surprised . '' Ruth Madoff was too taken aback to comprehend the significance of his admission , the son said : `` 'What 's a Ponzi scheme ? ' was her first question . '' `` I said , 'It 's all fake . ' It means dad 's not been doing what he says he 's been doing , '' Andrew Madoff recalled telling his mother . `` My brother was trembling with rage . He was absolutely furious . Mark was the first one to stand up and say , ' I 'm out of here , ' and I immediately followed and walked out . '' That night , Ruth and Bernie Madoff went to the company Christmas party , stayed half an hour and came home . The next morning , the FBI arrived to arrest Madoff -- turned in by his two sons . On December 11 , 2010 -- two years to the day his father was arrested -- Mark Madoff 's body was discovered hanging from a ceiling pipe in his Manhattan apartment , while his 2-year-old son slept in another room . Ruth Madoff said she blamed herself for her son 's suicide and for not cutting off contact with her husband as her son had once wished . `` I just wish , until my dying day , that I had done what he wanted , '' she said . `` It 's the most awful thing that could happen to anybody . Suicide of a child . '' Madoff , 73 , is at Butner Federal Correction Complex , a medium-security prison in eastern North Carolina . He is serving a 150-year sentence after bilking investors out of their money by masquerading as the head of a legitimate investment firm while using funds from new investors to send payments to his earlier investors , falsely portraying them as proceeds when they were actually stolen money , prosecutors said . `` I ca n't explain it , '' Ruth Madoff said . `` I mean I trusted him . Why would it ever occur to me that it was n't legal ? The business was -- his reputation , was almost legendary . Why would I ever think that there was something sinister going on ? '' The wife and surviving son both say they will never forgive Madoff for his crimes and for what he has done to their family . `` What he did to me , to my brother , and to my family is unforgivable , '' Andrew Madoff said . `` What he did to thousands of other people , destroyed their lives -- I 'll never understand it . And , I 'll never forgive him for it . And I 'll never speak to him again . '' Madoff 's criminal activities spawned a tidal wave of civil actions against the family , accusing them of profiting from the Ponzi scheme . As public outrage mounted over the crime , Ruth Madoff and her husband attempted suicide . `` I do n't know whose idea it was , but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening , '' she said . `` `` We had terrible phone calls . Hate mail , just beyond anything and I said ' I just ca n't go on anymore , ' '' she said . `` We took pills and woke up the next day ... .It was very impulsive and I am glad we woke up . '' The `` 60 Minutes '' interview coincides with Monday 's release of the new book about the Madoff family , `` Truth and Consequences '' -- a tell-all memoir , written with the family 's cooperation . In the interview , correspondent Morley Safer asked , `` You know , there 's a lot of a people out there who are saying , or will be saying as they watch this , `` This is all a charade . This was something that the Madoffs set up to get themselves off the hook . ' '' `` I wish it were , '' Andrew Madoff said . `` I wish it were . I wish none of this was real . You know , I knew -- I knew absolutely nothing about this -- before my father shared the information with me . And it was -- it was the most shocking and -- and terrible moment of my life . ''
`` Everything I 've been doing is all a big lie , '' family recalls Madoff saying . Madoff is in prison for swindling investors in the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history . His wife blames herself for her eldest son 's suicide . Andrew Madoff : `` What he did to me , to my brother , and to my family is unforgivable ''