A federal informant and whistleblower who disappeared after he allegedly turned over top-secret files about Deutsche Bank was found dead in LA this week, according to local police.
The body of Valentin Broeksmit, 46, was found by police in LA on Monday right before 7 am. Police came across the body at Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles. The cause of death has not been disclosed, but toxicology testing and additional examinations are underway.
Local police reported to the Los Angeles Times that they don’t think foul play was involved. While suicide is suspected, this hasn’t been confirmed.
Broeksmit was last seen in public driving his mini Cooper on April 6 in LA on Riverside Drive. He was reported missing by his family the next day. While the car was found, Broeksmit was missing for several weeks. Police said this week the man appeared to be living on the street.
The cause of death probably will not be revealed by the medical examiner until summer.
Son Of Deutsche Bank Executive Came Across Secret Documents
A 2019 New York Times profile said Broeksmit was the son of Bill Broeksmit, an executive at Deutsche Bank who killed himself in 2014.
After his father died, Broeksmit accessed his email account and came across hundreds of files about Deutsche Bank. Some of the secret files included financial plans, meeting minutes, presentations, and spreadsheets.
Only the people in the inner circle of Deutsche Bank were intended to see those documents.
Federal and state law enforcement were looking into the father due to criminal misconduct allegations. They also were reviewing the bank’s years-long relationship with President Donald Trump.
The New York Times reported that Broeksmit gave the bank documents to journalists and several companies. One of them was Fusion GPS, which is a research company connected to a dossier about Trump.
After Broeksmit met with the FBI in LA, the federal agency let him identify himself as a witness in a federal investigation into criminal wrongdoing.
Reporter Scott Stedman tweeted about the man’s death this week. Stedman said he was a friend who gave him and other writers important bank documents that showed how it is deeply connected to the Russian government.
He added that Broeksmit had a drug problem, and this was confirmed in the 2019 New York Times profile.
Stedman said he didn’t think there was foul play, tweeting that ‘everyone needs to…stop… with the conspiracy theories about Val.’
2019 NYT Profile Detailed Drug Abuse And Whistleblower Aspirations
The 2019 NYT feature profile of Broeksmit revealed the extent of his drug problems, noting he was an unemployed musician who dealt with opioid abuse. He also aspired to become a famous whistleblower like Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden.
Broeksmit added that he was passionate about handing over the secret bank documents because he wanted to do something about corporate wrongdoing.
Broeksmit told the newspaper that he was ‘more emotionally invested in this than anyone in the world,’ which is why he gave the secret bank documents to the FBI. He added that he wanted to be the FBI’s special informer on the case.
The profile also noted that Broeksmit was from Ukraine and was adopted by the senior Broeksmit.
David Enrich, the reporter who composed the NYT profile, said this week that Broeksmit was a major character in his recent book, “Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and An Epic Trail Of Destruction.” He added that the news of the death was horrible.
Enrich added that while he and Broeksmit had a ‘complicated relationship,’ the news of his death was devastating to hear.
Several Suicides Involving Deutsche Bank In Recent Years
Broeksmit’s death has brought a fresh focus on several suicide deaths linked to Deutsche Bank. His father’s suicide is one of several deaths involving bank employees over the last five years.
The senior Broeksmit’s death happened a few months after David Rossi died from suicide in Italy in 2013. Rossi was the director of the world’s oldest bank – Monte Dei Paschi di Siena.
There have been suspicions for years that Rossi didn’t kill himself, but there is no evidence suggesting foul play.
Also, there isn’t any sign that the deaths of several Deutsche Bank employees involved foul play.
Other Recent Deutsche Bank Employee Deaths
Some Deutsche Bank employees who died in recent years include:
Bill Broeksmit
The senior Broeksmit, 58, was found dead hanging in his London home in 2014. He left several notes with family and friends before committing suicide.
A police inquest in the UK revealed that Broeksmit was involved in American investigations into the bank and was anxious about the probe.
Calogero Gambino
Gambino was the bank’s senior regulatory lawyer and killed himself in New York City in 2014.
When he died, Gambino was connected to legal issues related to the bank allegedly manipulating the LIBOR rate.
Tom Bowers
Bowers was another Deutsche Bank executive who killed himself in Malibu in November 2019. Bowers was one of several managers at the bank who approved billions of dollars in loans to Donald Trump before he took office.
The loans were scrutinized after other financial organizations declined Trump’s request for the loans because of his bankruptcy history.
Bowers did not work for Deutsche Bank when he died, having left the firm in 2015. There were not any signs that his death was related to his work at any bank.