Police find body of local land owner

Jul 2 2009 by Johnathon Menzies, Blairgowrie Advertiser

A TOP banker who owned an estate near Coupar Angus has been found dead.

The family of Dutch financier Hulbert Boumeester, who was found with gunshot wounds after going missing on June 22, have spoken of their “great sadness” following his death.

Police searched East Perthshire’s Hallyburton Estate – as well as the former ABN Amro chief financial officer’s homes in London’s Clapham and Victoria districts – but his body was discovered in a wooded area of Winkfield, in Berkshire.

Fears were growing for the 49-year-old father-of-two after he went missing at the same time as a pair of shotguns disappeared from his various residences.

A vehicle matching the description of Mr Boumeester’s car, a blue 56-registered Range Rover, was found near the scene.

In a statement, the banker’s family said: “We are deeply grieved by what we must now assume is a tragic outcome.

“We express our thanks to all those people who have been searching for Hulbert these last few days, we are left with great sadness.

“The family request their privacy be respected at this difficult time,” they said.

Mr Boumeester joined ABN Amro in 1987.

He set up the Boumeester Foundation to help preserve indigenous cultures in places like Vietnam, China and Bhutan.

Thames Valley Police said they were carrying-out an investigation the with Metropolitan Police into the incident.