Wall Street Suicide Leads To Lawsuit Against Deutsche Bank

In a poignant sign of the deepening financial crisis, two families are suing Deutsche Bank claiming that the bank's involvement in pushing them to invest in a "virtually risk-free" Aravali Fund cost them $13 million - and drove their longtime friend and financial adviser to commit suicide out of guilt.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank did not return calls for comment from Huffington Post.

According to Courthouse News Service:

The Spain family plaintiffs say they lost $3 million; the Duncan Family claims to have lost $10 million. The Spain family claims Deutsche Bank employee Arthur Kreidel, with the late Russell Smith, was primarily responsible for persuading them to throw $3 million into Arivali.

The Duncan family says their friend and longtime investment adviser, Russell Smith, sent them a letter just before he killed himself, suggesting they contact his attorney, "for possible redress."
The defendants are Deutsche Bank Alex Brown, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Arthur Kreidel, Mark Young, Aravali Fund LP, and Aravali Partners LLC. Mark Young is or was the president of Aravali Partners.
The families claim Deutsche Bank and its defendant employees persuaded them through misrepresentations to invest $13 million in the "virtually 'risk free'" Aravali Fund, then lost the money. Both families claim that Deutsche's Bank misrepresentations of Aravali were so blatant it caused Smith, both families' longtime financial counselor, to commit suicide in October.

The suicide letter, which was appended to the lawsuit, begins:

"Since you are reading this, I have just taken my life. It was necessary because the alternatives were totally unpalatable. I consider you a friend first and a client second. That said, I had a fiduciary relationship with you that charged me with putting your interest first. I can say that I always tried to do that. However, some of the investment recommendations that I chose did not work out the way I had anticipated. I regret that very much.

Comments

[Mike169]

...I consider you a friend first and a client second. ...

First big mistake!

[JBS]

It's hard for me to find sympathy for the losses of multi-billionaire families; haven't heard anything from them to the effect they're sorry how their predatory financial shenanigans affected working people like me.

These aren't people who've lost their life savings through no fault of their own. They're the people who rigged the system to take everything for themselves, leaving the rest of us to scramble for the crumbs.

Screw 'em.

[Hank10303]

More collateral damage as a result of the Bush administrative banking and financial policies and all he gets is a shoe thrown at him. I say jail, do not pass go.

[spinns17]

bush always says .let the open market take care of itself.

[Chavez08]

No jobs, no healthcare, no homes, no education, no dignity, no heat, no peace, no hope......

Gee! This "Capitalism" thing rocks!!

[tomas0808]

Wake up people! Banks, Corporations, Advertisers, Marketers, Investment Firms, The Mainstream Media, and the politicians who bow down to them are Enemies of The People. DO NOT TRUST them. DO NOT give them money

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

When you are dead you are dead. Rich or Poor dead is dead. That is extremely sad for everyone involved and people in general. There will be more before its over. Everyday I watch bills come in and wonder how are we going to pay for this. These are bills for the basics. I have never been the kind that went out and spent money like mad since my husband retired.

[LeeCalif]

Only wish mortgage brokers were as 'honorable'.

[beaupritchard]

Good one. Suicide ... mortgage broker ... snowball chance in hell as they say. Requires a moral compass ... bred that out a long time ago.

[Jackalheadedgod]

WTF?

Jack

[EdGreen]

I bet they are suing the bank for $13 million...­. What a coincidence.

[rektruax]

Ya play, ya pay...

[Balancement]

Two (obviously well-off) families have just witnessed one of the suicides caused by this economic melt-down. Who's keeping track of all the suicides happening elsewhere--in this country and around the world as the Bush/Republican economic trickle-down disaster destroys life and hope everywhere it goes? How many desperate out-of-work people are next? As usual, the well-heeled get the media attention, but the suicides among the faceless "common folk" who will finally have given up hope will go, as usual, uncounted and forgotten.

How large will the total death-toll be, even beyond Iraq, that will be at Bush's feet?

[Angel1961]

There was a great article on just that subject on October 20 in Alternet about all the instances of arson, murder and suicide the author could come up with from combing Nexis. It was reprinted from TomDispatch. The stories broke my heart.
Here is the link. It is in Alternet;s archives.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/103656/arson%2C_suicide%2C_and_murder_mark_the_economic_crisis%2C_and_we%27re_not_hearing_about_it/

[IneptitudePrideB4Fall]

Anybody who CAUSED this meltdown gonna take a similar action. I don't think so.

[akkadian]

excellent post....!

[vippy]

In Germany life necessities cannot be taken away from people. I always wondered
why the USA gets away with these inhuman rules. What do they expect a person to do
after they hit hard times? But look at Blagojevich, he was not satisfied with his job,
he wanted much more and now he even refuses to step down. What is good for one should be good for all.

[vippy]

And all Bush can say is "so what."