By James R. Hagerty and Daniel Fitzpatrick

Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

A human relations executive at Freddie Mac advised David Kellermann, the mortgage giant's acting chief financial officer, to take time off from work earlier this week, shortly before he was found dead in his basement in an apparent suicide, according to people familiar with the situation.

These people say Freddie's human resources chief, Paul George, expressed concern at a meeting this week with Kellermann that he was spending too much time at work and needed a break.

Kellermann's duties were temporarily assigned to Denny Fox, acting principal accounting officer, and Rob Mailloux, acting corporate controller, these people say.

Authorities recovered Kellermann's body Wednesday morning in the Vienna, Va., home he shared with his wife and young daughter.

His motives remains unclear.