French Madoff investor found dead in NY office
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A French executive who invested with accused swindler Bernard Madoff was found dead in an apparent suicide on Tuesday, reportedly distraught over losing up to $1.4 billion (955 billion pounds) in client money.
The death added a chapter to the widening story of the Wall Street fund manager who authorities say confessed to running a $50 billion fraud that ensnared investors and charities around the world.
While Madoff remained under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment with his assets frozen, another investor sought to hold U.S. regulators responsible for $2 million in purported Madoff-related losses, and the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU.L said it may lose $850,000 in donations due to the scandal.
Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, 65, a co-founder of money manager Access International, was found dead on the 22nd floor of a New York City office building, officials said.
He slit both wrists with box cutters, and appeared to bleed to death, according to a police source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He may have also taken sleeping pills after staying late in the office on Monday night, the source said, who added that there was no suicide note.
An official cause of death was not expected until at least Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the New York City Medical Examiner said.
Villehuchet had been trying to recover some of the funds lost to Madoff, Paris newspaper La Tribune reported on its website, citing a person close to Villehuchet. That source also told the newspaper Villehuchet killed himself.
"He had been searching day and night for a way to recover the funds of his investors. ... He couldn't bear the blame game that broke out among Europeans," a person described as close to Villehuchet told La Tribune.
"It's a farewell from someone who had nothing to be ashamed of. ... The truth is that everybody wanted to invest with Madoff, who was considered by all as AAA or totally safe," La Tribune quoted him as saying.
Villehuchet's Access International was a feeder fund to Madoff, according to hedge fund professionals who declined to be identified.
Access may have exposure of $1.4 billion through its Madoff investments, the New York Daily News reported.
PROBE CONTINUES
A receiver has been appointed to oversee Madoff's firm, while investigators pour over masses of documents and conduct interviews to assess the losses and probe whether anyone else was involved. Federal prosecutors have charged Madoff with securities fraud, but he has yet to formally respond to the accusations in court.
A woman who said she gave Madoff $2 million to manage took legal action against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, believed to be the first attempt by an investor to recover losses from the SEC. Continued...
