Business

London authorities probe two mysterious banker deaths

Police and coroner officials in London have launched probes into the mysterious deaths of two bankers.

Investigators began Monday investigating the death of William Broeksmit, 58, a retired Deutsche Bank executive found hanged in his London home on Jan. 26.

At the time of his death, a company memo said, “He was considered by many of his peers to be among the finest minds in the fields of risk and capital management,” Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain wrote.

Broeksmit was “instrumental as a founder of our investment bank” and Jain’s memo called him “a dear friend and colleague to many of us who benefited from his intellect and wisdom.”

In 2012, Broeksmit was named by Jain and co-CEO Juergen Fitschen to become Deutsche Bank’s chief risk officer, but German financial authorities said he lacked the needed managerial experience to oversee the office.

The other banker inquest — set to begin in late May — is looking into the mysterious death of Gabriel Magee, the 39-year-old vice president of technology at JPMorgan, whose body was discovered on the ninth-floor roof of a building connected to the firm’s 33-story London headquarters.

Gabriel Magee, 39, plunged to his death at the London headquarters of investment bank JPMorgan.Zumapress.com

There were no eyewitnesses to Magee’s fall. His body was discovered at 8 a.m. Jan. 28 by workers coming into work in the adjacent building, who called authorities.

Police reports at the time said the death was non-suspicious.

Magee — an American banker working in the European headquarters of JPMorgan in the Canary Wharf section of London — reportedly emailed his girlfriend the night before his body was found to say he was on his way home from the office.

When he did not return, his girlfriend contacted police to make a missing person report.

Meanwhile, detectives in Stamford, Conn., are still awaiting toxicology reports in the death of Ryan Crane, the JPMorgan executive director.

Crane, 37, was found dead in his Stamford home on Feb. 3.

A JPMorgan spokesperson at that time said there was no apparent connection between the two deaths. Police officials expect the lab results in late April.

Last week, Kenneth Bellando, 28, who previously worked at JPMorgan, was found dead after an apparent leap from his East Side home, police said.

Bellando’s brother John is a top chief investment officer with JPMorgan, whose work focuses on risk exposure valuations and is cited in Senate Finance Committee testimony on the London Whale trade.