Deutsche Bank Whistleblower Vanishes

The son of a late Deutsche Bank executive who shared his father’s internal bank documents with the FBI and news outlets such as Forensic News and the New York Times after his father’s death has gone missing in Los Angeles, police and others said.

Val Broeksmit was last seen driving away from Griffith Park on April 6th after dropping off his girlfriend, Marie Peter-Toltz, and her son. Hours later, Broeksmit failed to return to the park. The following morning, Peter-Toltz activated the “find my iPhone’ feature on Broeksmit’s cell phone, which pinged in South Central Los Angeles.

There, according to Peter-Toltz, she found Broeksmit’s car running with the keys in the ignition, but no sign of Broeksmit.

Peter-Toltz reported Broeksmit missing to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)’s Missings Person’s Unit, who have since opened an investigation.

On Monday, the LAPD released a public statement pleading for anyone who may know something about Broeksmit’s disappearance to contact authorities. “If you have seen, or have any information regarding [Broeksmit’s] whereabouts please contact the Los Angeles Police Department, Missing Persons Unit, at (213) 996-1800. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).”

“Anything is possible…” a detective on the case told Beverly Press, “we don’t know what happened or where he is.”

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Broeksmit’s Deutsche Bank Documents and Cooperation

After Val Broeksmit’s stepfather Bill Broeksmit, a senior executive at Deutsche Bank, committed suicide in 2014, Val acquired many of his late stepfather’s emails and documents from his work at the bank.

It wasn’t long until journalists began reaching out to Broeksmit hoping to gain insight into Deutsche Bank. One such journalist was David Enrich, now a New York Times journalist and author whose book about Deutsche Bank, Dark Towers, was based on Broeksmit’s journey (note: Broeksmit disagreed with the way Enrich’s book and articles portrayed him).

In 2019, Broeksmit was subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee for his documents relating to Russia and also began cooperating with the FBI that year into their money-laundering probe into Deutsche Bank. Broeksmit had contact with the FBI as recently as the fall of 2020, according to a source familiar with the situation, who didn’t further elaborate.

Forensic News first met with Broeksmit in the summer of 2019, the first meeting of many in which Broeksmit shared Deutsche Bank documents. These documents were the lynchpin of four major financial investigations by Forensic News into the bank and its relationship with various Russian and Ukrainian clients.

Forensic News journalist Scott Stedman with Val Broeksmit. Courtesy: Rocco Castoro

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On Friday afternoon, the LAPD confirmed to Forensic News that they are actively investigating Broeksmit’s disappearance. “I can’t say whether we suspect foul play but I can say that he is still missing and this is an active, ongoing investigation,” an officer at the LAPD Media Relations desk said.

The FBI Field Office in Los Angeles declined to say whether they were involved in the investigation.

from Hacker News https://ift.tt/2QkQjAE