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Act of honor causes aristocrat to commit suicide
By Alan Katz |
January 5, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THIERRY Magon de La Villehuchet's sense of honor led the descendent of French army officers and an ennobled shipping family to commit suicide after he put his friends and family in a ''catastrophic'' financial situation by investing with Bernard Madoff, his brother said.
Villehuchet, 65, chief executive officer of Access International Advisors, believed that he had lost all of the funds invested with Madoff's eponymous investment firm, including the US$1.4 billion LUXALPHA SICAV-American Selection managed by Access, Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
''For him, it was a positive act of honor,'' said Bertrand, 74, who lives in Paris and received a note from his brother after Thierry' death. ''He brought his friends and clients, and a lot of them were his friends, to a catastrophic situation.''
Access managed US$3 billion and had 26 employees, according to marketing documents dated September. The firm's investors last year raised the proportion of funds with Madoff to about 75 percent from 30 percent previously, because Madoff appeared to generate positive returns while many other hedge funds crumbled, said Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet. Madoff was arrested on December 11 for allegedly running a US$50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet said he put 20 percent of his own wealth into LUXALPHA. His brother entrusted his entire fortune to Madoff.
''I was bragging at parties that I'd only lost 5 percent this year,'' Bertrand said at his apartment on the Place des Vosges in Paris. ''Now I guess I've lost 25 percent."
Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet's body was found on December 23 with his feet propped up on his desk and a trash pail nearby to collect blood, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Villehuchet had cuts made by a box-cutter around his biceps and his wrist, and pills were found nearby.
His death came as lawsuits mounted in connection with investors victimized by Madoff's alleged scam.
Villehuchet, 65, chief executive officer of Access International Advisors, believed that he had lost all of the funds invested with Madoff's eponymous investment firm, including the US$1.4 billion LUXALPHA SICAV-American Selection managed by Access, Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
''For him, it was a positive act of honor,'' said Bertrand, 74, who lives in Paris and received a note from his brother after Thierry' death. ''He brought his friends and clients, and a lot of them were his friends, to a catastrophic situation.''
Access managed US$3 billion and had 26 employees, according to marketing documents dated September. The firm's investors last year raised the proportion of funds with Madoff to about 75 percent from 30 percent previously, because Madoff appeared to generate positive returns while many other hedge funds crumbled, said Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet. Madoff was arrested on December 11 for allegedly running a US$50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet said he put 20 percent of his own wealth into LUXALPHA. His brother entrusted his entire fortune to Madoff.
''I was bragging at parties that I'd only lost 5 percent this year,'' Bertrand said at his apartment on the Place des Vosges in Paris. ''Now I guess I've lost 25 percent."
Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet's body was found on December 23 with his feet propped up on his desk and a trash pail nearby to collect blood, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Villehuchet had cuts made by a box-cutter around his biceps and his wrist, and pills were found nearby.
His death came as lawsuits mounted in connection with investors victimized by Madoff's alleged scam.
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