9:18am UK, Wednesday December 24, 2008

A French executive said to have lost almost £1bn of his clients’ cash in an alleged £33bn Wall Street scam has apparently committed suicide.

Wall Street was allegedly taken in by a billion pound scam

Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet’s body was discovered on the 22nd floor of a New York City office building.

It followed reports that he was distraught over losses stemming from accused swindler Bernard Madoff.

The 65-year-old co-founder of money manager Access International had slit both wrists with box cutters and bled to death, according to a police source.

He may have also taken sleeping pills after staying late in the office on Monday night, the source said.

No suicide note has been found.

Mr de la Villehuchet had reportedly been trying to recoup some of what he lost to Madoff, who is under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment with his assets frozen.

US prosecutors say the 70-year-old has confessed to defrauding investors of £33bn in a scam that collapsed in the global financial crisis.

Accused: Bernard Madoff

Madoff, an influential Wall Street figure who used to be chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, told employees his operations were “all just one big lie” and “basically, a giant Ponzi scheme”, according to court documents.

A Ponzi scheme is similar to a pyramid scheme, in that it pays out high returns to investors from money put into the scheme by later investors.

A receiver has been appointed to oversee Madoff’s firm, while investigators pore over masses of documents and conduct interviews.

Federal prosecutors have charged Madoff with securities fraud but he has yet to formally respond to the accusations in court.