Shele Danishefsky Covlin, the
UBS AG adviser who was found dead in her bathroom in New York on New Year's Eve, feared that her estranged husband might harm her.
According to an account of court documents in the New York Post, Ms. Covlin, 47, was issued an order of protection against estranged husband Rod Covlin on May 20, 2009 — two weeks after she filed for divorce.
Ms. Covlin, who worked for 24 years at Merrill Lynch before switching to
UBS in January 2009, stated in court proceedings that her husband had threatened her, according to Dominic Barbara, her divorce lawyer. "Her husband was very difficult, and that's what prompted the divorce action," Mr. Barbara told the Post.
The paper also indicated that New York City police are interested in talking to Mr. Covlin.
Philip Danishefsky, Ms. Covlin's brother and advisory team partner, is currently fighting for custody of the couple's two children, who are now under the supervision of Mr. Covlin's parents. He is allowed to see his children only under third-party supervision.
Ms. Covlin left an estate estimated to be worth $1.2 million. She was scheduled to meet with an
estate planning attorney to remove her husband as a beneficiary on Jan. 1, 2010 — a day before she was found dead by her 9 year old daughter.
Last month, a public administrator was appointed executor of Ms. Covlin's estate, barring Mr. Covlin from having access to the funds.
At Merrill Lynch, Ms. Covlin worked with her brother and her father. The team, which managed about $600 million in assets for the company, had nearly $3 million in combined production at the time of their move to
UBS.
Mr. Covlin, 36, is a professional backgammon player and chairman of the U.S. Backgammon Federation. He has a long list of jobs in the investment business, often building or setting up trading systems. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has worked at Evolution Funding Partners, Pragma Financial Systems and E*Trade Professional, among others.
