Broker jumps from rooftop restaurant

Anjool Malde feared he was about to lose his job at Deutsche Bank, and was upset about Michael Jackson's death, say friends

FIRST POSTED JULY 9, 2009

Friends and colleagues were still puzzling today over the death of a 24-year-old stockbroker who, dressed in a Hugo Boss suit and with a glass of champagne in hand, jumped to his death from the roof terrace of an eight-floor City restaurant.

Anjool Malde worked at Deutsche Bank and ran an events company called AlphaParties. He committed suicide on Sunday at the Coq d'Argent restaurant at the top of the No 1 Poultry building, but the news only emerged on Wednesday.

His parents, Naina and Bharat Malde, issued a statement from their home near Middlesbrough which read: "We are absolutely devastated. Equally we are so touched by the warm words from his many, many friends that alluded both to his tremendous talent and positive, lively spirit. He was an inspiration to so many. He meant everything to us.

Malde had been due to celebrate his 25th birthday this week with a party at the Amuse Bouche bar in Soho

"Apparently he donned a Hugo Boss suit with matching designer accessories, treated himself to a glass of champagne at the much frequented, upmarket City restaurant Coq d'Argent, and jumped from an eighth-floor rooftop. Style meant everything to him and that's how he chose his exit."

The Independent reports a close friend of Malde saying he had heard the stockbroker was about to be suspended by Deutsche Bank. "I know for certain that the bank deleted his Bloomberg account, which was not a good sign," said the friend. This would have denied him access to the financial markets and made it difficult to communicate with other bankers.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank said Malde had been sent home early on Friday after helping his employers with "an inquiry into an IT matter". But he had not been suspended and was expected to return to work on Monday.

Another friend, Barry Bagirathan, who had worked with Malde at Deutsche Bank, said his friend had been deeply upset by the death of Michael Jackson, whom he idolised. "We knew he was quite upset about MJ," he said, "but apart from that there was nothing unhappy going on in his life."

Malde, an Oxford graduate, had been due to celebrate his 25th birthday this week with a party at the Amuse Bouche bar in Soho, organised by his own company. He is not the first City worker to commit suicide from the rooftop Coq d'Argent: in 2007, the 33-year-old Richard Ford threw himself off the building and landed on top of a bus.