Bernard Madoff fraud victim committed suicide to avoid bankruptcy shame

/Home/Madoff Fraud Victims- Swindler's List/Individuals- Madoff Fraud Victims/William Foxton British Soldier

Bernard Madoff fraud victim committed suicide to avoid bankruptcy shame
A former soldier committed suicide because he could not face the shame of going bankrupt after becoming a victim of the multibillion-dollar Bernard Madoff fraud, an inquest heard.

Published: 12:01PM BST 11 Jun 2009

William Foxton OBE, MBE shot himself dead next to a city's court in Southampton,
William Foxton, 65, who had been awarded the OBE by the Queen, was found with gunshot wounds to his head in a small park next to the magistrates' court in Southampton, Hampshire, on February 10.

His body was found lying on a bench with a 9mm Browning pistol in his lap, the inquest at Southampton heard.


Mr Gelman explained that Mr Foxton had served with the French Foreign Legion before joining the British Army, and had since worked for the Sultan of Oman as a military adviser.

He had also worked for the United Nations and non-governmental organisations in conflict zones around the world, including the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.

Mr Gelman added: "He had acquired the pistol as a souvenir while serving with the Sultan of Oman."

The inquest heard that Mr Foxton had lost his left hand and part of his left arm while working in Oman and had to use a prosthetic hand.

Mr Gelman said that the note left at Mr Foxton's Southampton home for his wife, Roberta, explained that he was going to commit suicide because of his losses in the Madoff scandal.

Madoff, 71, is awaiting sentence this month in New York after admitting 11 charges in connection with what is believed to be the world's biggest fraud case.

Dr Patrick Gallagher, the pathologist, told the hearing that the cause of Mr Foxton's death was gunshot wounds to the head.

Recording a verdict of suicide, coroner Keith Wiseman said: "The manner of Mr Foxton's death was absolutely tragic. Mr Foxton could not tolerate what he would have regarded as the shame of being in financial difficulties.

"He referred to financial difficulties in the note in particular to some difficulties arising from what has become known as the American Madoff scandal."

Speaking of Mr Foxton's military past, Mr Wiseman added: "He was very much a larger-than-life character.

"He had worked in various military fields and the latter part of his life had been spent with non-government organisations in areas such as Kosovo and other areas of the Middle East helping people who were in grave difficulties because of conflict."

The inquest heard that Mr Foxton had also been a member of the British bobsleigh team in the 1972 European Championships.

At the time of his death, his son Willard said his father was distraught after losing his family's entire savings in the Ponzi investment scam.

Willard Foxton, 28, from London, said on his blog site that Madoff had "blood on his hands" over the death of his father, who was a grandfather-of-two.

"He (Mr Foxton) was brought low by the greed of Bernie Madoff," he said.

"I spoke with my father recently and he confided his life savings had been invested in two hedge funds; the Herald USA Fund and Herald Luxembourg Fund.

"He had found out that the offices of these funds had closed and that the money had in fact been invested in the Madoff Hedge funds.

"My father, Bill Foxton, was a decorated soldier, a holder of the OBE and MBE, who lost an arm in combat.

"He had spent the 1990s and early 2000s in the Balkans, where he was head of the European Commission Monitoring Mission (ECMM) during the Yugoslavian wars, and was a highly respected figure in many of the communities of the former Yugoslavia.

"My father was a very decent, very brave man," he added.

The amount of money lost in the scam by Mr Foxton is thought to be more than £100,000.