Dana Giacchetto dead: Former 'stockbroker to the stars' found dead in New York apartment aged 53

Giacchetto was imprisoned for defrauding his Hollywood clients

Giacchetto lived a colourful life of dramatic highs and lows (Reuters)

Dana Giacchetto, the disgraced former “stockbroker to the stars” who worked with Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz before pleading guilty to securities fraud, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday. He was 53.

Police told New York Daily News that Giacchetto was found by his roommate “face up in bed and foaming at the mouth” in their Upper West Side apartment late Sunday morning. He called 911 and paramedics pronounced Giacchetto dead at the scene at 12.02pm. A cause of death has yet to be released.

According to sources quoted by the paper, his death follows a weekend of heavy partying.

Giacchetto lived a colourful life of highs and lows. Although he adopted the same glamorous club-hopping lifestyle of his Hollywood clients, he was later imprisoned for defrauding them.

He was arrested in April 2000 on fraud charges, and in 2001 was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for stealing $10m (£7.1m) from his clients. He won an early release from prison for good behaviour and had two years wiped off his sentence.

Giacchetto’s clients included Alanis Morisette, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and many others. The business magnate was known for sparking up friendships with young Hollywood stars who would spend nights at his SoHo home in lower Manhattan. Prior to his arrest, he carried out a number of successful business deals, such as brokering the sale of 49 per cent of Seattle-based Sub Pop Records to Warner Music Group for $20m.

While awaiting trial in 2000, Giacchetto was apprehended in Las Vegas, Nevada, with substantial amounts of cash on him and airline tickets. He claimed he was flying to Rome to propose to his girlfriend.