Press Release: Statement Regarding Madoff Investigation; 2008-297; Dec. 16, 2008.
They thoroughly failed to do their job for at least 9 years:
Since Commissioners were first informed of the Madoff investigation last week, the Commission has met multiple times on an emergency basis to seek answers to the question of how Mr. Madoff’s vast scheme remained undetected by regulators and law enforcement for so long. Our initial findings have been deeply troubling. The Commission has learned that credible and specific allegations regarding Mr. Madoff’s financial wrongdoing, going back to at least 1999, were repeatedly brought to the attention of SEC staff, but were never recommended to the Commission for action. I am gravely concerned by the apparent multiple failures over at least a decade to thoroughly investigate these allegations or at any point to seek formal authority to pursue them. Moreover, a consequence of the failure to seek a formal order of investigation from the Commission is that subpoena power was not used to obtain information, but rather the staff relied upon information voluntarily produced by Mr. Madoff and his firm.
It appears they asked Madoff if he was doing something illegal. When they received voluntary information from Madoff basically say, nope we’re perfectly legit, they did not bother with any further investigation. I wonder if that will work next time I get stopped for sppeding?
Officer: Do you know how fast you were going, sir?
Me: I was going exactly 55 MPH.
Officer: Well if you say so, I won’t bother checking the radar gun. Have a wonderful day!
If traffic enforecement were handled that way, I’m guessing speeding fines would go way, way down.
