Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet grief-stricken after becoming one of the top 10 losers in the reportedly $50 billion Ponzi scheme

Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet grief-stricken after becoming one of the top 10 losers in the reportedly $50 billion Ponzi scheme - slashed both wrists with a boxcutter and bled to death, cops said Tuesday.Tidy, precise and punctilious to the end, the CEO of Access International Advisors locked the door of his 22nd floor office at 509 Madison Ave., sat in his swivel chair - and bled into a garbage pail to minimize the mess.It was the first known suicide connected to Madoff's scam.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said de la Villehuchet told the building's cleaning crew he was going to be working late Monday and asked them to clean his office by 7 p.m., which they did.An Access partner later than night had security check the door. It was locked.The next morning, it was still locked, and security was summoned again. At 7:35 a.m., the body was found, one leg propped atop the desk, the other on the floor.There was no sign of forced entry and no suicide note.
A large volume of blood was collected in the garbage pail.Sleeping pills were nearby, but it's not clear if he had ­taken any."It appears there were cuts made to his arm, his wrist and also to his bicep area with a boxcutter," Kelly said.
De La Villehuchet was declared dead at about 8 a.m. The city medical examiner will perform an autopsy today.The lonely death of the tormented 65-year-old money manager who invested the fortunes of the Rothschilds, Bettencourts and other high-born European grandees sent shock waves around the globe.They rattled the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where one of de la Villehuchet's funds had invested all its assets with Madoff, and shook the Principality of Monaco, where Philippe Junot, the ex-husband of Princess Caroline, used his ties to the ski-chalet set to drum up business for the Frenchman.Junot and Crown Prince Michael of Yugoslavia, a nation that no longer exists, were among dozens described as "Alpine advisors" - intermediaries who prowled the ­casinos, ski slopes and yacht clubs of Old Europe on behalf of Access, a 26-employee hedge fund that managed $3 billion.Their mission: Steer investment funds to de la Villehuchet, who in turn would feed them to Madoff. Their biggest fish: Heirs to the L'Oreal cosmetics fortune, including members of the Bettencourt family, the second richest patrimony in France.Little was known about de la Villehuchet's business practices, but Bill Rapavy, a former partner at Access, summed him up in two words: "He's irreproachable."By the time Madoff was arrested Dec. 11, Access had amassed $1.4 billion in assets in its Luxembourg-based investment fund, LUXALPHA SICAV-American Selection, which said its objective was "to provide a consistent performance" for investors, who included members of the Rothschild family.
Their only problem: Madoff held LUXALPHA's entire nest egg.As high society reeled, law enforcement plunged into the case: A source familiar with the Madoff probe said the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission did not believe de la Villehuchet was implicated in the scheme. Authorities did not focus on him until his suicide, which came 12 days after Madoff's arrest.Guy Gurney, a Connecticut photographer and friend of the money manager, sensed something was amiss in the last few days.
"He sounded different," he said.De La Villehuchet was a devoted yachtsman, an avid competitor who had won the Shields Class national yacht championship four years in a row. Gurney, who knew him from sailing circles, spoke to him for the last time one week after the scandal broke.Gurney said his friend acknowledged he was "very involved" with Madoff. "He was absolutely shocked."