In ABC’s report on the apparent suicide of La Villehuchet,  I find this:

“European fund managers who knew de La Villehuchet described him to ABCNews.com as a man who inspired “a lot of respect, honour, humanity, kindness and generosity.” They said Villehuchet had a strong belief in Madoff and had not only committed his own money to Madoff, but did so with 150 percent leverage — in effect, his potential losses were greater than his actual wealth.

Access International’s LUXALPHA SICAV-American Selection fund invested solely with Madoff, and is one of several large funds that has been the subject of the ongoing federal investigation into what prompted them to place large amounts of client money with Madoff despite red flags that had been raised for well over a year by some inside the hedge fund community. The fund had at least $1.4 billion and perhaps closer to $2 billion in money under management, placing it in the top tier of funds that appear to have lost most if not all of their investment in the scandal. …”

Comment:

The most interesting parts of this to me are:

1. 150% leverage as late as this year.

2. De La Villehuchet took over Lux-Alpha, the fund invested in Madoff, only recently.

3. Lux Alpha had been set up by banking giant UBS.

4. UBS has been the hardest hit European bank on subprime, and was under investigation.

There are many more dots connecting in my mind that I’d prefer not to put up on my website now.

I was among the first to note that Madoff couldn’t have been alone.

I will now go on record and say that what I’ve read so far indicates a very extensive web of associates, some at the highest levels of finance and government.

And as a bonus Christmas present, I will add that there is likely some connection to money laundering……