Madoff investor commits suicide in New York: Report

PARIS: The co-founder of a firm that raised money in Europe to be invested with alleged Wall Street fraudster Bernard Madoff committed suicide Tuesday in New York, French newspaper La Tribune reported.

It said Thierry de la Villehuchet, 65, co-founder of Access International, a fund management company, had been "unable to resist the pressures that followed the eruption of the scandal."

"He took his life this morning in New York in his office," the paper said, citing someone close to him.

It said that for the past week "he had tried night and day to recover funds committed by his investors and had begun legal action in the United States against US authorities."

Madoff is accused of having directed a huge fraud scheme, known as a Ponzi pyramid, that cost investors around the world 50 billion dollars. He is currently free on bail of 10 million dollars as police continue a probe.

Is the Madoff fiasco just the tip of the iceberg, with many more financial scams waiting to be exposed?