Harry Markopolos's letter to SEC regarding Madoff

[Cheese]

There is a problem in this which unsurprisingly has been missed by the many, almost everyone, including the clever and the stupid, who know the answer afterwards but not beforehand. Where Markopolous explains that everyone he spoke to called Madoff a fraud, it is neither conclusive nor even compelling. Calling someone else a fraud can be simply expressing dislike of someone else or something else you cannot match or understand. All sorts of dislikes are brandished when often there is neither prima facie evidence nor subsequently ultimate evidence for accusing others.

Various Wall Street players or all of Wall street have been called criminals, by hordes at ET. So when the language of envy, dislike and exaggeration is common it leads to the view that just one more, Markopolous in this case, is one of the same herd using exaggerated dislike with motive to do so.

No way am I excusing Madoff but he would be amused that he could so easily navigate and safely bypass any who were bad mouthing him.

What is so utterly tedious and dishonest, in all of this, is the blame gaming going on by Congress and others when all are so fallible.

 

[Illum]

Kudos to the heros on the hill today. Way to go. Go get um.

Beware Masters of the Nothing, the flying tigers are coming

The American people are done listening to whining from the thieves. We want to hear from the heros.

Off with their heads

 

[flytiger]

Quote from WaveStrider:

Didn't Congress look into the firing of SEC investigator Gary Aguirre on that Pequot insider trading thing?

Don't recall if they ever got an answer on that one, but it looks like the SEC behavior is chronic.

Aguirre was fired when he got to close to John Mack and Art Samberg. Aguirre told Deepcapture that he was fired as soon as he broached the topic of "naked shorting". Interesting, because the whole affadavit is about insidertrading, favors, etc.

Aguirres' immediate superior, Paul Berger, almost immediately received a position with the law firm representing Mack. Aguirre is by no means finished. He is fighting back, trying to right that cesspool. Madoff is a gift. Without him, we never could have got Congress off the dime.

 

[flytiger]

Here's a change of tune...... just out.

Thomson Financial News
BRIEF-U.S. SEC chief offers to meet with lawmakers on Madoff probe
02.04.09, 07:09 PM EST
pic
WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Mary Schapiro, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in a letter to two House lawmakers:
* Offers to meet with Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski and Republican Rep. Scott Garrett to discuss Madoff situation following House Financial Services subcommittee hearing earlier on Wednesday.

Says 'Today's hearing before your subcommittee cannot have been satisfactory for you. The Commission's staff and I understand that you must have adequate information to fulfill your oversight responsibilities.'
* Says needs to be full accounting of both Madoff's activities and why SEC failed to detect the fraud 'which we truly regret'.
* Says SEC is committed to 'making changes that will enhance our ability to detect similar frauds'.

(Reporting by Julie Vorman; Washington desk for company news; +1 202 898 8400, washington.newsroom@reuters.com)

 

[IcarusByNight]

Quote from Cheese:


"Various Wall Street players or all of Wall street have been called criminals, by hordes at ET. So when the language of envy, dislike and exaggeration is common it leads to the view that just one more, Markopolous in this case, is one of the same herd using exaggerated dislike with motive to do so."

You have made a finely articulated point for restraint. While it is difficult for the uninitiated to discern between hyperbole and truth, it can be agreed that our regulatory system has failed us. Reporters have done no better. Many of those who have caused the damage did so for their own personal gain disregarding the inevitable consequences both to themselves and everyone else. Magical thinking.

Being a truth-teller in the environment of the last ten years could not have been easy for Markopolis, Aguirre and the numbers of others who never went out to seek these larger truths. The burden was thrust upon them as it was on many others. The difference being that some people can explain things away by telling themselves it's far easier to go along, instead of assuming the moral obligation that came uninvited.

I have no doubt that when people like Markopolis and Aguirre discovered the crimes that have now been brought to light, they believed it would be short work of it for someone to make things right and that someone would be delighted to do so. Discovering how wrong those assumptions were, became a double burden. Discovering just how corrupt our system has become that there is no entity that's interested in applying law, is scary. You're on your own from here. You can't un-ring a bell; however the truth is thrust upon you, you're stuck with it. You thrust off the burden or take it on because your nature forces you to do so, because being who you are, you really don't have a choice.
Restraint is not an option.

 

[SteveD]

But turn this around:

SEC runs out and investigates Madoff on Henry's statement...

Leaks to press....headline: Madoff investigated for fraud!!!

Madoff's business collasped.....found to have a different strategy than what Henry was aware of.....everything on up and up....but now out of business, reputation gone.....

Henry shrugs and says "Oh well, I'm sorry".....

But remember, SEC had no complaints from anyone other than a competitor?????

Hindsight is always wonderful......

And Congress wonders why their approval rating is below 10%??

SteveD

 

[IcarusByNight]

Quote from SteveD:

But turn this around:

SEC runs out and investigates Madoff on Henry's statement...

Leaks to press....headline: Madoff investigated for fraud!!!

Madoff's business collasped.....found to have a different strategy than what Henry was aware of.....everything on up and up....but now out of business, reputation gone.....

Henry shrugs and says "Oh well, I'm sorry".....

But remember, SEC had no complaints from anyone other than a competitor?????

Hindsight... The Approval Rating of Congress?

In all due respect, even if it worked like that it wouldn't work like that. The SEC is obliged to review/audit broker/dealers and other financial entities, especially when they receive information that calls the integrity of that company in question. Compliance is standard protocol.
The SEC does not reveal information about ongoing investigations, unless a company is already under such great public scrutiny, that failing to state that they are investigating that company would make them seem clueless. Today, the SEC attempted to use the fact that they could not speak specifically about the ongoing Madoff investigation as an excuse that prevented them from elaborating upon why they failed to take any steps to investigate Madoff when they had been apprised of 29 red flags in detail from someone who had the credentials to elaborate on those details and had done so over the course of ten years.

No, hindsight is not an efficient model for arresting corruption, that's why the SEC is looking so inept about now. For the past ten years. Markopolis has been operating in real-time attempting to reveal the scheme before it finally blew-up. Despite his best efforts, he could not penetrate the wall of collusion and complacency.

On your other point: Congress has a low approval rating as they are perceived as being corrupt and ineffective. Not because they're running around destroying innocent companies of wrong-doing.

That's the work of short sellers who drive down stocks with false rumors and the naked shorts who love them.