Finn M W Caspersen

Finn M.W. Caspersen ’66, who chaired the Dean’s Advisory Board at Harvard Law School died Monday in Rhode Island at the age of 67. Caspersen was former chief executive of the financial services firm Beneficial Corporation. Recently, he was chairman of the board and CEO of Knickerbocker Management, a private management firm that oversees the assets of various trusts, foundations, and individuals. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Brown, where he later served as a trustee. A graduate of the Peddie School in New Jersey, Caspersen was a member of the school’s Board of Trustees since 1970. Other institutions that benefitted from his dedication to education include the Hodson Trust, Drew University and the New Jersey State Board of Higher Education. Mr. Caspersen, a patron of Harvard and Princeton who gave away tens of millions of dollars to charity, apparently harbored a secret: He was suspected of dodging many millions in federal taxes. The authorities, it seemed, were closing in. At the time of his death, investigators were building a case against Mr. Caspersen on suspicion of using secret offshore bank accounts to evade taxes. The authorities had asserted he might have owed as much as $100 million in back taxes and fines or, possibly, even have faced prison, The Times said, citing a a person briefed on the investigation who was granted anonymity because of the delicacy of the case and the events surrounding Mr. Caspersen’s death.