Training | 2009.06.30
Missing banker found dead in woods
Body of financier who disappeared a week ago with guns is discovered in Berkshire woodland
A wealthy City financier who left his high-powered post at a banking group after a disastrous buyout has been found dead with gunshot wounds, it emerged today.
Huibert Boumeester, 49, vanished at the start of last week on the day he was to meet a headhunter in London.
Police said the father-of-three had been feeling down and fears for his safety grew when it was noticed that two of his shotguns were missing. His body was discovered in woodland in Berkshire yesterday morning.
A Thames Valley police spokesman said: "He is believed to have died from gunshot wounds. At the moment it is being treated as an unexplained death."
Boumeester, a Dutch citizen, was chief financial officer at ABN Amro and at the heart of its buyout by the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007. He remained in his post until March last year and left as part of a prearranged deal.
Friends said Boumeester had no financial worries. He had two homes in London, land in Scotland where he went shooting, and a wealthy family and had made around £600,000 a year in the City, with bonuses on top.
He was said to be considering offers of a number of non-executive boardroom positions when he disappeared.
One friend said: "I think it would be wrong to leap to the conclusion that this came about directly because of the credit crunch. Obviously he had been under pressure in the last few years but it\'s not as if he didn\'t know where his next penny was coming from. He had enough money never to have to work again."
Boumeester joined ABN Amro as a management trainee in 1987 and held positions including country manager in Malaysia and global head of integrated energy. He became chief financial officer in 2007 and played a key role in trying to fend off the Royal Bank of Scotland takeover.
Friends said Boumeester was talented and popular. One, who worked closely with him, said: "He was a very charismatic and colourful individual, very professional and very driven. He was the consummate deal-maker. Making deals was what gave him great fun and amusement. Making money was not his main motivation. He loved the thrill of the deal."
The friend said Boumeester had been involved in the Royal Bank of Scotland take-over from start to finish. "He had such energy. He kept going when much younger men were flagging. It couldn\'t be true that he was depressed because he lost his job. He did not have any financial worries. There must be some personal trauma behind this."
Boumeester had travelled widely during his career and he set up the Boumeester Foundation to conserve cultures in countries such as Vietnam, China and Bhutan. The foundation\'s website says: "Living and working in Asia has stirred the interest of Huibert Boumeester in Asian cultures and has made him more aware of the dangers these cultures are facing."
He was also keen on country pursuits, especially shooting. "Though he was Dutch, he came over as quite the English gentleman," said a friend.
The financier was found in woodland in Drift Road, Winkfield, near Bracknell, Berkshire. Police had been contacted when he did not appear for a meeting with a headhunter in London last Monday.
Boumeester\'s family said today that they did not wish to comment.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jun/29/dutch-banker-found-dead
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