The 86-year-old daughter of L'Oreal SA founder Eugene Schueller was the first investor in a fund managed by Access International Advisors, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because her investment isn't public. The body of Access co-founder Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, 65, was found in his Madison Avenue office on Tuesday. Police said he probably killed himself.

Bettencourt, a Parisian, joins wealthy individuals from around the world, including Spanish billionaire Alicia Koplowitz, US moviemaker Steven Spielberg and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, among victims of what Madoff, 70, told investigators was a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Pedro Almodovar, the Spanish director famous for movies such as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, is among those hurt by the alleged fraud by Madoff, El Economista reported.

Oyster Inversiones, an investment vehicle linked to Almodovar's production company, had about 200,000 euros at risk from the alleged scam, the newspaper said, citing data from Spain's market regulator.

"More high-profile names who have been victimized by Madoff will start to become known now," said Ron Geffner, who represents hedge funds at the New York-based law firm Sadis & Goldberg LLP. "There's a strong sense of anguish, fear and distrust."

Calls and e-mails to Fondation Bettencourt Schuelle, the foundation she started in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, weren't returned. Bettencourt ranked 17th in Forbes' list of the world's richest people in 2008, the highest-ranking woman. Access, which oversaw $3 billion, raised money mainly from wealthy European investors.

Access said in a Dec 12 letter to clients that funds including its LUXALPHA SICAV-American Selection invested solely with Madoff's eponymous investment firm. The fund had $1.4 billion in assets as of Nov 17, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Access says it carries out "extensive" due diligence on the funds to which it allocates money, a process that can take as long as six months and cost $100,000. It also hires private investigators to run "extensive background checks" on fund managers, including searches on professional credentials, regulatory filings and bankruptcy, according to marketing documents dated September.

New York police are working on the assumption that de La Villehuchet's death was a suicide, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. The fund manager was found "with his feet propped up on his desk, a trash pail nearby to collect blood", and no sign of a second person, Kelly said.

Body at desk

He had cuts made by a box-cutter in the area of his biceps and his wrist, and pills were found nearby, Kelly said at a news conference. No suicide note was found. His body was found at his desk early on Tuesday morning by a security guard who had been called by an employee unable to enter the office, Kelly said.

Villehuchet founded Access in 1994 with Patrick Littaye. One of the firm's partners was Philippe Junot, according to the marketing documents. Junot is the former husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Prior to Access, De La Villehuchet was chairman and CEO of Credit Lyonnais Securities USA, the US investment banking arm of the French bank. He had joined Credit Lyonnais in 1987, and before that ran Interfinance, an international broker firm specializing in French, Belgian and Italian stock markets that he founded in 1983. He worked at Banque Paribas from 1970 to 1983.

Access, which had 26 employees, said in a statement on Dec 12 it was working with lawyers to assess its exposure to Madoff. UBS AG, LUXALPHA's administrator until this year, is no longer involved with it, said Karina Byrne, a UBS spokeswoman.

De La Villehuchet's death comes as lawsuits mount in connection with investors victimized by Madoff. Fairfield Greenwich Group, a hedge-fund firm that had $7.5 billion invested with Madoff, has been sued for allegedly failing to protect its clients' assets. Madoff was arrested on Dec 11 and is now under house arrest at his apartment in New York.