Jan 22, 2009 6:15 pm US/Pacific
Meltdown Spurs Fugitives And 'Econocides'
WASHINGTON (CBS News) ―
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange moments after the opening bell Dec. 12, 2008, in New York City. (File)
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
It's becoming a trend: So-called fugitive financiers attempting to skip town after losing big for investors. Bob Orr examines the disturbing recent spate of big-money power brokers fleeing financial meltdown - and taking their own lives.
Marcus Schrenker, accused of bilking investors out of millions, Thursday pleaded not guilty to charges he deliberately crashed his plane to fake his death. But, all of the evidence suggests Schrenker tried to flee financial ruins.
And he's not alone.
Facing 20 years in prison for running a $450 million scam, Samuel Israel also reached for a desperate way out. He scrawled a suicide message on his SUV, and left it parked on a Hudson River bridge.
Israel turned himself in three weeks later.
Now, a Florida hedge fund manager, Arthur Nadel, is on the run. He left behind his own suicide note and investors, who are on the hook for $50 million in losses.
"We're gonna see a lot more of this," said Dr. Leslie Seppinni, a clinical psychologist. "We're gonna see a lot of people just taking off and disappearing in the middle of the night."
Seppinni says the scale of the worldwide money meltdown is causing a collective emotional depression. And the wealthiest money managers and clients, especially men, may be under the most stress.
In just the past month, at least five financial power-brokers have killed themselves. They're victims of what Forbes Magazine calls "econocides."
Among them:
- French financier Rene-Thierry de la Villehuchet, who slit his wrists after losing $1.5 billion of his clients' money in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.
- German tycoon Adolph Merckle, who threw himself under a train after watching a $9 billion fortune evaporate.
- Irish property baron Patrick Rocca who, facing a collapsing real estate market, shot himself in the head.
"It's that shame that goes with the loss of power that leads to suicidal behavior and feeling that there's absolutely no way out," Seppinni said.
Millions of people, facing the same financial crisis, are somehow finding ways to cope.
But there's plenty of suffering and too often, it seems, yet another turns to desperate measures.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Timeline: U.S. Credit Crunch & Financial Failures
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