SEC Missed Multiple Opportunities to Bust Madoff
It was a sad case of too little, too late when it came to the Securities and Exchange Commission's readings of Bernie Madoff's now-collapsed house of cards. On Wednesday, the SEC released a report about Madoff's massive financial boondoggle, detailing the many moments in which chances were missed to stop the damage from spreading as far as it did.
It was a sad case of too little, too late when it came to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s readings of Bernie Madoff’s now-collapsed house of cards. On Wednesday, the SEC released a report about Madoff’s massive financial boondoggle, detailing the many moments in which chances were missed to stop the damage from spreading as far as it did. –KA
Your support is crucial…BusinessWeek:
“[D]espite numerous credible and detailed complaints, the SEC never properly examined or investigated Madoff’s trading and never took the necessary, but basic, steps to determine if Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme,” Inspector General H. David Kotz said in the report. “Had these efforts been made with appropriate follow-up at any time beginning in June of 1992 until December 2008, the SEC could have uncovered the Ponzi scheme well before Madoff confessed.”
The investigation found that between 1992 and 2008, the SEC received six credible complaints that “raised significant red flags” about Madoff’s operations and was also aware of two articles in business publications, published in 2001, that raised questions about Madoff’s remarkably consistent returns. The SEC conducted three examinations and two investigations of Madoff during that time period, but either accepted Madoff’s explanations or failed to follow up on questions and inconsistencies in the information the agency was given.
With an uncertain future and a new administration casting doubt on press freedoms, the danger is clear: The truth is at risk.
Now is the time to give. Your tax-deductible support allows us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes what’s really happening — without compromise.
Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and unearth untold stories.
Editorial Cartoons
If only investors knew exactly what they were getting into—and what they aren’t going to get out of it.
Investigative reporter Steve Fishman explains how Bernie Madoff was able to pull off one of the largest financial crimes in U.S. history, and whether regulators have taken steps to ensure Americans won't get conned again.
For investors who lost money in Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme and are waiting for payback from a firm enlisted by the Department of Justice, the check's (still) in the mail.
The 32-year-old Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO and Wall Street player became a source of schadenfreude on a mass scale Thursday with the news that he had been arrested for securities fraud.
Author Gina Nahai's latest novel, "The Luminous Heart of Jonah S.," is a family epic that leaps from Tehran to Los Angeles and back again, blending murder mystery, history, myth and magic in a lively and lyrical read.
Author Gina Nahai knows a thing or two about the Iranian Jewish diaspora in America -- she's part of it.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.