ICYMI" Hedge Funder Duped By Madoff Jumps To Death From Midtown Hotel, Police Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A hedge funder who poured billions of dollars into Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme jumped to his death from a Midtown hotel, an NYPD spokesman told Patch.

Charles Murphy, a 56-year-old Upper East Sider, was found dead on a fourth-floor roof of the Sofitel hotel around 5 p.m. Monday, an NYPD spokesman said. Murphy is believed to have jumped to his death from a balcony of the West 44th Street hotel, police said.

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Murphy's Fairfield Greenwich firm had invested $7 billion with Bernie Madoff, CNBC reported. The investments were made before 2008, when it was revealed that Madoff was the architect of a massive Ponzi scheme. Fairfield Greenwich was sued and eventually settled litigation related to the Ponzi scheme investments for $125 million, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2015.

Murphy was most recently working at the hedge fun Paulson & Co., according to CNBC. The hedge fund's manager, John Paulson, said in a statement that, "Charles was an extremely gifted and brilliant man, a great partner and a true friend."

An Upper East Side mansion owned by Murphy was listed for $49.5 million in March 2016. The asking price for the five-story home, on East 67th Street between Fifth and Madison avenues, was dropped to $36.5 million after sitting on the market for more than a year, according to real estate listings. Murphy purchased the building for $33 million in 2007, according to documents filed with the city.

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