The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has broadened its investigation into the Bernard Madoff scandal to include the London activities of certain Madoff feeder funds. The Guardian reports that a criminal investigation by the SFO into London branches of the feeder funds “suggests investigators believe certain feeder operations may have played a more actively dishonest role in the fraud, beyond simply failing to make sufficient checks that client money entrusted to Madoff was being properly invested.”
Among the feeder funds with offices in London were Fairfield Sentry, Kingate, and various funds run by Access International Advisers Europe, the Guardian reports. Thierry de la Villehuchet, co-founder of Access International and a former chairman of the investment banking arm of Credit Lyonnais, was found dead in his Manhattan office after after Madoff’s arrest in an apparent suicide.
Katrina Allison, head of the SFO’s City division, said that the SFO expects to “start bringing any charges within the course of this calender year.”
