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We've all wondered what drove Bernie Madoff to (allegedly) commit his crimes. Was he an obsessive-compulsive narcissist? Just greedy? One factor we didn't consider: genetics. Fortune reports this afternoon that Bernie wasn't the first member of his family to run afoul with the authorities. A broker-deal registered to Bernie's mother, Sylvia Madoff, was shuttered by the SEC more than 40 years ago for failing to file financial records with the agency. Strangely, acquaintances of the family don't recall Mrs. Madoff working as a broker, which would have been highly unusual for a woman at the time, and the firm, Gibraltar Securities, used the Madoff family house in Queens as its mailing address. (Fortune suggests the firm was used as a front by Bernie's father, Ralph.) Unless Bernie or his brother address the matter, it's unlikely we'll ever find out since both Sylvia and Ralph Madoff died in the 1970s. But for prosecutors scouring the globe for Madoff's illicit gains, perhaps it's just the clue they've been looking for! The tiny British colony of Gibraltar is one of the world's most notorious tax havens. [Fortune]