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He should have shared the holiday spirit with Madoff...


Investor who lost $1.4B to Madoff kills himself


By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writer Adam Goldman, Associated
Press Writer � 56 mins ago

NEW YORK � He was a distinguished investor who traced his lineage to
the French aristocracy, hobnobbed with members of European high
society and sailed around the world on fancy yachts.

But after losing more than $1 billion of his clients' money to Bernard
Madoff, Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet had enough. He locked the
door of his Madison Avenue office and apparently swallowed sleeping
pills and slashed his wrists with a box cutter, police said.

A security guard found his body Tuesday morning, next to a garbage can
placed to catch the blood.

The bloody scene marked a grisly turn in the Madoff scandal in which
money managers and investors were ensnared in an alleged $50 billion
Ponzi scheme. De la Villehuchet is believed to have lost about $1.4
billion to Madoff.

No suicide note was found, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

De la Villehuchet, 65, was an esteemed financier who tapped his
upper-crust European connections to attract clients. It was not
immediately clear how he knew Madoff or who his clients were.

He grew increasingly subdued after the Madoff scandal broke, drawing
suspicion among janitors at his office Monday night when he demanded
that they be out of there by 7 p.m. Less than 13 hours later, his body
was found.

His death came as swindled investors began looking for ways to recoup
their losses. Funds that lost big to Madoff are also facing investor
lawsuits and backlash for failing to properly vet Madoff and
overlooking red flags that could have steered them away. It's not
immediately known what kind of scrutiny de la Villehuchet was facing
over his losses.

De la Villehuchet (pronounced veel-ou-SHAY) comes from rich French
lineage, with the Magon part of his name referring to one of France's
most powerful families. The Magon name is even listed on the Arc de
Triomphe in Paris, a monument commissioned by Napoleon in 1806.

"He's irreproachable," said Bill Rapavy, who was Access
International's chief operating officer before founding his own firm
in 2007.

De la Villehuchet's firm enlisted intermediaries with links to wealthy
Europeans to garner investors. Among them was Philippe Junot, a French
businessman and friend who is the former husband of Princess Caroline
of Monaco, and Prince Michel of Yugoslavia.

De la Villehuchet, the former chairman and chief executive of Credit
Lyonnais Securities USA, was also known as a keen sailor who regularly
participated in regattas and was a member of the New York Yacht Club.

He lived in an affluent suburb in Westchester County with his wife,
Claudine. They have no children. There was no answer Tuesday at the
family's two-story house. Phone calls to the home and de la
Villehuchet's office went unanswered.

Guy Gurney, a British photographer living in Connecticut, was friends
with de la Villehuchet. The two often sailed together and competed in
a regatta in France in November.

"He was a very honorable man," Gurney said. "He was extraordinarily
generous. He was an aristocrat but not a snob. He was a real person.
When he was sailing, he was one of the boys."

The two were supposed to have dinner last Friday but Gurney called the
day before to cancel because of the weather. But during the call, de
la Villehuchet revealed he had been ensnared in Madoff scandal.

"He sounded very subdued," Gurney said.

Gurney said de la Villehuchet was happily married to his wife.

"I can't imagine what it's like for her now," he said. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081224/ap_on_bi_ge/madoff_investor_suicide;_ylt=AlXn2IqF8iLZ3s_72KLt31Ks0NUE