Financier Finn Caspersen found dead in RI

WESTERLY, R.I.—Finn M.W. Caspersen, a former chief executive of the financial services firm Beneficial Corp., has been found dead after what Rhode Island police say is an apparent suicide.

Westerly Police say they found the body of the 67-year-old Caspersen on the grounds of the Shelter Harbor Golf Club after being asked to check on him Monday afternoon by a concerned family member.

Police Capt. Edward St. Clair said Wednesday that Caspersen died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. St. Clair declined to comment on a possible motive.

Caspersen, a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, was a philanthropist and fundraiser who had served as chairman and chief executive of Beneficial Corp. from 1976 to 1998. The company was later sold and is now part of HSBC.

He also was an equestrian sportsman.