Freddie Mac’s finance chief found dead

Freddie Mac’s finance chief found dead
By Tom Braithwaite in Reston, Virginia, and Saskia Scholtes and Simone Baribeau in New York
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: April 22 2009 13:19 | Last updated: April 23 2009 01:02
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/183e279c-2f36-11de-b52f-00144feabdc0.html


David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of the troubled US mortgage financier Freddie Mac, was found dead early on Wednesday in his suburban Virginia home, police said.

Mr Kellermann’s wife reported an apparent suicide, according to local media. Police said there was no evidence of foul play.

Paul Unger, a neighbour, said Mr Kellermann was a “doting family man”. He addded: “I had a sense of what was going on at the company, but I can’t imagine what would drive him to that.”

His death adds to turmoil in the company’s boardroom after David Moffett, Freddie Mac’s government-appointed chief executive, quit last month because of apparent frustration with Freddie’s regulator over its tight grip on the company’s affairs.

John Koskinen, Mr Moffett’s temporary replacement who had been serving as board chairman, said: “We extend our deepest condolences to David’s family and loved ones for this terrible personal tragedy.”

Mr Kellermann, 41, became acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac last September after it was placed under conservatorship by the government. He was the company’s fourth chief financial officer in less than six years.

Freddie’s board pushed out then CFO Vaughn Clarke amid an accounting scandal in 2003, and his replacement, Martin Baumann, resigned in March 2006.

Freddie Mac is also under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the company disclosed in a recent regulatory filing.

Eric Holder, US attorney-general, said that he had no idea whether Mr Kellermann’s death was related to investigations of the company. “It is obviously tragic but I do not know anything more than what I have read,” he said.

Mr Kellermann had worked for Freddie for more than 16 years.

He was responsible for the company’s financial controls, financial reporting, tax, capital oversight and compliance with federal oversight requirements, and oversaw the company’s annual budgeting and financial planning processes.

He had previously served as corporate controller and principal accounting officer.

Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said on Wednesday: “Our deepest sympathies are with [Mr Kellerman’s] family and his colleagues at Freddie Mac during this difficult time.”