A French financier whose investment fund is said to have lost$US1.4 billion has been found dead in his New York office, with his wrists cut and a knife lying beside his body.
Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet had invested with Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street fund-manager who reportedly confessed to running a massive fraud scheme.
He co-founded a company that raised funds on European markets to plough into Mr Madoff's investment scheme.
A French newspaper quotes his relatives as saying the 65-year-old Mr de la Villehuchet had done nothing wrong and was trying to find a way to recoup his investors' money. But he could not cope with the pressure that followed the outbreak of the scandal.