France/US

Police investigate apparent suicide of French financier

Article published on the 2008-12-25 Latest update 2008-12-29 10:48 TU

Bernard Madoff walks back to his apartment in New York, 17 December
(Credit: Reuters)

US authorities are investigating the apparent suicide of a French investment manager who lost more than a billion euros after investing in Bernard Madoff's alleged ponzi scheme. This is the second apparent death linked to investors who lost a total of 50 billion dollars (36 billion euros) in the fallout over the elaborate fraud masterminded by investment titan-- in what may be the biggest scam ever on Wall Street.

Thierry de la Villehuchet, 65, was found in his office on Tuesday with pills and his arm had been slit with a box cutter, according to New York police.

He left no suicide note, but may have been wracked with guilt over losing three-quarters of two billion euros invested for European clients in Madoff's scheme, according to a friend.

Villehuchet's Access International Advisors is reportedly the sixth-largest loser in the scheme, according to published reports.

But wealthy clients were not the only people who were touched in the scandal. Bernard Madoff was considered a major player in the Jewish community, and many of his investors were foundations, such as the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, which seeks to fight anti-semitism.

Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, had invested 10.8 million euros with Bernard Madoff Investment Securities, according to the foundation's website.

"We are deeply saddened and distressed that we, along with many others, have been the victims of what may be one of the largest investment frauds in history," said the statement. "This represented substantially all of the Foundation's assets," it added.

Madoff, 70 was a former chairman of New York's Nasdaq stock market. He was arrested by police on 11 December after his two sons, both investment fund managers, turned him in.

He is accused of running a ponzi or pyramid scheme, where new investors were secretly used to pay old investors.

Madoff is currently free on 10 million dollars bail while the investigation into the fraud continues.