Meltdown Spurs Fugitives & "Econocides"

(CBS)  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.

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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.

[indianaman13]

See liberals? When these former rich people realize they are poor and are no longer self sufficient, they kill themselves. You liberals should follow their lead.

Mrs_Bun

So misguided

[indianaman13]

Mrs_bun,

What happened to your Conservative Values, ethics, morals, dignity, and integrity, what happened to your belief that life is sacred? How can you want anyone to kill themselves? You are exactly what Obama is talking about when he talks about the failed policies of the past. How can you demand Morality from others when you lack it yourself?
What message did we send the world when Bush said he carried morality, honor, and dignity but failed to live up to his own words? A Nation or a man is only as good as his word. That is conservative morality, that is a Godly way to act and live and if America wishes to be such a nation then we need our leaders to step up and lead by example. We do that and the world will follow.

[indianaman13]

What the hell is the comment about Frank and Dodd about? Must be some ignorant person who has no grasp of the political history of Republicans over the last 40 years. Reagen started this whole mess under the direction of the Republican old guard (Bush, Rumsfield, Cheney, Grahm, Limbaugh, Nixon, Rove) and deregulated everything. No one remembers the excuses such industries as Cable, Phone, Energy, Banking, Financing, and Airliners used? They all said deregulation would encourage competition in this supposedly "Free Market" yet how much has all those industries increased their fees and prices? How many Taxes have been added to your cable, phone, and energy bills? Who do you think is responsible for making America what it is today? A group of men who chose themselves as better and who have done anything despicable for money or 2 senators who are ELECTED by the American people. Hmmmmm let me think about that for a minute.

[payasyougo]

And yet Frank and Dodd still have their jobs....

[akakjb]

Change is scary and it prompts extreme reactions from some people. It figures that Forbes would come up with a euphemism like ''econocide'' and apply it only the billionaires who opened a vein when the money evaporated, ignoring all of the suicides and other problems that have happened among ''the great unwashed'' for the past few years because of this crisis. You want a body count, just wait. Murders, suicides, homelessness and other pretty big problems are all on the rise and itll only get worse before it starts to get better, no matter how much money you made last year. Just ask those Microsoft employees who always thought they never had to worry about a layoff.

[mrthinker1]

mitch6544 says, Conservatives lack empathy except for themselves when they lose money through their own greedy manipulations.

It seems to me that we have become a more Liberal Society and less Conservative and less Religious. So, why have we become more greedy and dysfunctional?

Are those that abandon their Religious Conservative values and embrace selfishness and begin to manipulate to fulfill the greedy desires still Conservative? I think not. Those who deviate form their traditional principles have become more Liberal. I think your ability to reason is in question unless the word Conservative that is in the dictionary has somehow mysteriously changed.

[mrthinker1]

The ethics that this generation embraces are clearly not that of our forefathers. Whats going on Wall Street and the banking system is also endemic of the, me first, values that our society now embraces. Everyones out for them selves and could care less about the consequences. By the way, I am no Liberal, and I agree with a lot of what these guys are saying about the state of Wall Street. An institution is only as corrupt as those that run it. Human Greed screws up all institutions including Government. The question we should be asking is where do we get more good people from while many of us define what is good in different ways.

[otiswestfall]

I''d say we are closer to regular working people committing suicide. People who lose a home they adored because they can''t find another job. Someone whose spouse left because the money dried up. The transition from home ownership to being homeless could happen very quickly for anyone in a lot of debt and being suddenly unemployed. Important to have optimism, but sometimes doing so is just too unrealistic.

[mitch5511]

Conservatives lack empathy except for themselves when they lose money through their own greedy manipulations.

Suppose that squishy bleeding-heart do-gooders object to the employment of children of ten, for twelve hours a day in Indonesian sweatshops, making pricey running shoes for people who don%u2019t run. This will infuriate the conservatives. The factory makes money, doesn%u2019t it? Photos from war zones of children with their entrails hanging out? The communist media are trying to sap the public%u2019s will to fight.

These conservatives just don%u2019t care, and can%u2019t care.

What happens, of course, is that conscienceless, amoral men dress themselves in whatever ideology suits their purposes. Stalin was no more a socialist than he was the Tooth Fairy. However, since socialism requires that the state control the economy, it appeals to dictators. Thus the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. %u201CFree enterprise%u201D appeals to those who want no interference with their rapine, who want to run sweatshops, starve sharecroppers, and make billions on subprime mortgages.

Same people, different scaffolding.

[whatnow12]

"Former Merrill CEO Out At Bank America
John Thain Allegedly Rushed Out Billions In Bonuses As Company Pleaded For Federal Bailout Cash"
And we gave them this money? When will Americans wise up and do away with Wall Street?