Why the Madoff $50 BILLION ponzi scheme went unnoticed

The Madoff whistleblower, Harry Markopolos, has finally and publicly detailed his nearly eight-year investigation into Bernard Madoff -- a period in which Markopolos said he feared for his life.

“If Mr. Madoff was already facing life in prison, there was little to no downside for him to remove any such threat,” said Markopolos’ testimony. “We did know, however, that he was one of the most powerful men on Wall Street and in a position to easily end our careers or worse.”

Markopolos provided detail evidence to the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2000 to 2008 and said there was an abject failure by the regulatory agencies, said his testimony.

“We don’t pretend to know what really happened on the mysterious 17th floor of the Lipstick Building at [Bernard Madoff’s] corporate offices,” said Markopolos. “Every bit of information we obtained was in the public domain. We never had any secret insider documents or smoking gun emails.”

Markopolos said he began his investigation into Madoff in late 1999 when a marketing executive from Rampart Investment Management Company Inc. told him of Bernard Madoff’s fantastic returns. Markopolos said he determined in less than four hours that Madoff’s operation was a fraud.

Madoff "was a 'no-brainer' investment but only in the sense that you had to have no brains whatsoever to invest into such an unbelievable performance record that bears no resemblance to any other investment managers' track record throughout recorded human history,” said Markopolos’ testimony.

In May of 2000, Markopolos said he contacted the SEC’s Boston office with his findings. The next year, Madoff spoke with Ed Manion in that office.

“Throughout the past 9 years, Ed Manion was the only SEC staff member who ever truly understood the Madoff scheme and the threat it posed to the public,” said the Markopolos testimony.

Manion told Markopolos to send the information to the SEC’s New York Regional Office, which he said he did in late 2001. Markopolos said his report, “Madoff Investment Process Explained,” received no response.

etc., etc., …………. click here:

The clash between lawmakers and high-ranking SEC officials came at a hearing after the whistleblower in the case, Harry Markopolos, said he had feared for his physical safety and would turn over new evidence to the agency showing the alleged Ponzi scheme mastermind had not acted alone.

Markopolos said he had discovered a dozen additional funds that funneled money to Madoff, "hiding in the weeds" in Europe. Managers of investment "feeder" funds that relayed money to Madoff willfully turned a blind eye to his improprieties because they were paid generous fees, Markopolos said.

He plans to present his findings to the SEC's inspector general on Thursday. If proven, they would substantiate the assertions of many analysts that the alleged fraud was far too large for Madoff to have conducted alone.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29009555/

sodbuster wrote:2000 to 2008 was Clinton?

I have heard of revisionist history but none so blatant as that.

Markopolos said he began his investigation into Madoff in late 1999 when a marketing executive from Rampart Investment Management Company Inc. told him of Bernard Madoff’s fantastic returns. Markopolos said he determined in less than four hours that Madoff’s operation was a fraud.

sodbuster wrote:That is true, Aaron.

Plus Clinton was not even in office for 90% of that time.

So how was it Clinton's fault.?

Markopolos said he began his investigation into Madoff in late 1999 when a marketing executive from Rampart Investment Management Company Inc. told him of Bernard Madoff’s fantastic returns. Markopolos said he determined in less than four hours that Madoff’s operation was a fraud.