Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Investor Who Lost Millions to Madoff Leaps to Death in Midtown, Sources Say

By Trevor Kapp | March 28, 2017 10:10am
 Charles Murphy, 56, (pictured with his wife) jumped to his death from the 24th floor of the Sofitel Hotel Monday afternoon, police sources said.
Charles Murphy, 56, (pictured with his wife) jumped to his death from the 24th floor of the Sofitel Hotel Monday afternoon, police sources said.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp; Patrick McMullan (inset)

MIDTOWN — A prominent financier who lost millions in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme leapt to his death from a Midtown hotel Monday afternoon, according to police sources and reports.

Charles Murphy, 56, jumped from the 24th floor of the Sofitel Hotel on West 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues and landed on a fourth-floor terrace around 4:40 p.m., sources said. He died at the scene.

Murphy previously worked for the high-end firm Fairfield Greenwich Group, which earned hefty commissions on the more than $7.5 billion in investor cash it sank into Madoff's long-running Ponzi scheme. The firm eventually lost nearly $50 million of that money by the time the scam was revealed, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It was unclear whether he left a suicide note.

Murphy had gone on to become a partner at the firm Paulson & Co. Inc. at the time of his death, reports said.

Paulson & Co. Inc. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but founder John Paulson released a statement to the Financial Times stating: “We are extremely saddened by this news. Charles was an extremely gifted and brilliant man, a great partner and a true friend. Our deepest prayers are with his family.”

Murphy owned a luxury townhouse on East 67th Street near Fifth Avenue featuring eight bedrooms, 11 fireplaces and a pair of elliptical staircases, according to The Real Deal.

He left behind a wife and four children, two from a previous marriage, according to reports.