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A new twist today on the CNBC versus Fox Business News affair. There’s a clearly a race afoot between the two to get that business “news”. OVER TO SCOTT COHEN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT AT CNBC WHO HAS SOME EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENTS…SCOTT!

It’s actually a serious matter. Seth Tobias, the American fund manager and sometime TV pundit who made regular appearances on CNBC, was supposedly murdered, according to one Bill Ash, who says he was an assistant to both Tobias and his wife. He’s provided a pay slip to CNBC to prove it.

Tobias ran Circle T Partners, but he was found dead in his swimming pool last month at his home near Palm Beach, Florida. It was assumed at the time that he had died of a heart attack, but Ash now says he has taped proof of foul play which has been passed to police investigating the matter. Says Ash to CNBC:

I think I’m doing more for Seth than anyone as far as trying to right a wrong.

Trouble is, as the financial channel tells viewers, police are not yet treating the death as suspicious, although they are still awaiting toxicology test. Investigators have interviewed Ash, although they “noted that Ash had an arrest record that included charges for prostitution and  writing bad checks.”

Oh, and Ash is due to provide information to the various parties, including his wife, involved in a $25m legal battle over the dead fund manager’s estate.

CLEARLY THIS IS AN AMAZING STORY AND IT’S STILL DEVELOPING. SCOTT THANKS VERY MUCH.