Police Found Freddie Mac CFO Dead by Hanging

Police believe David Kellermann, 41, Killed Himself in HIs Virginia Home

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7399376&page=1

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN, JACK DATE and ANN COMPTON April 22, 2009 Law enforcement sources said David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, was found hanging in the basement of his Reston, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning.

Police believe David Kellermann, 41, Killed Himself in Virginia Home Virginia police say they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. (ABC News)

The death was "an active investigation" and there were "no signs of foul play," Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Local police said they were called to Kellermann's home at 4:48 a.m., but would not say who'd placed the call to 911.

Kellermann, 41, and a 16-year veteran of Freddie Mac, had been the company's CFO since September, after a government takeover of the company following the housing crisis. Freddie Mac had been criticized for reckless business practices that some argued contributed to the housing and financial crisis. The company is controlled by the government and owns or guarantees about 13 million home loans. Freddie Mac and sibling company Fannie Mae, which together own or back more than half the home mortgages in the United States, have been hobbled by skyrocketing loan defaults and have received about $60 billion in combined federal aid. Kellermann was named acting chief financial officer in September 2008, after the resignation of Anthony "Buddy" Piszel, who stepped down after the government takeover.

According to securities reports filed in March, Kellermman was to receive an $850,000 bonus. Last summer, Kellermann owned 43,000 shares of Freddie Mac stock, worth about $395,000. As the company's stock plummeted from $9 a share last July to 80 cents or so this morning, he slowly sold off some shares, for pennies on the dollar. His holdings of 38,861 shares, as of April 11, were worth just $30,000, according to ABC News calculations of Security and Exchange Commission filings. In filings with the SEC in March, Freddie Mac said it had entered into a pact with Kellermann and two other executives to protect them from liabilities and expenses in connection to any threatened or pending lawsuits. The agreement, which kicked in retroactively from the time of the government takeover, would not protect the officials from willful criminal misconduct.

Before he was named acting CFO, Kellermann served as senior vice president, corporate comptroller and principal accounting officer.

"We at FHFA are very saddened by the death of David Kellermann," said the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government agency that oversees Freddie Mac, in a statement. " For many years, we have known David as a person of the utmost ethical standards who was hardworking and knowledgeable in his field. As the Acting Chief Financial Officer of Freddie Mac during particularly challenging times, David was an inspiration to his staff and many others who were privileged to work with him. We extend our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues," the statement read.