Whistleblower Val Broeksmit Who Leaked Trump’s Dealings With Deutsche Bank Found Dead

A man who gained prominence in 2019 when he said he had access to secret files implicating Deutsche Bank in money laundering and suggesting ties with former President Donald Trump, was found dead in Los Angeles on Monday after being reported missing for over a year.

Valentin “Val” Broeksmit was found at Woodrow Wilson High School early Monday and confirmed dead by the L.A. County Medical Examiner. So far police believe there is no evidence of foul play in his death. Despite being a missing person, Broeksmit wrote on his Twitter profile as recently as April 5.

Broeksmit had access to the financial records because his late father, Bill Broeksmit, committed suicide in 2014 and passed them on to him. Broeksmit collaborated with investigators at the FBI in passing on the documents, and Deutsche Bank was eventually fined $130 million for fraud charges they accrued from the evidence.

Broeksmit even testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee about Deutsche Bank’s connection with Trump. He did, however, clash with some reporters that he shared his information with. New York Times reporter David Enrich used Broeksmit as the central figure of his book Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction.

In his profile for Broeksmit and the book, Enrich touched on his struggles with drug use, occasional erratic behavior and desire to create “far-fetched theories,” despite the hard evidence he had access to. Enrich referred to his relationship with Broeksmit as “the most intense source relationship of my career,” and pondered in his initial profile whether the whistleblower was “manipulating me,” into getting his story ready for a Hollywood adaptation.

Broeksmit then lashed out at Enrich in several tweets and even added “Character Assassination Survivor,” to his Twitter bio.