SEC plans to investigate ties to Madoff's niece: Journal
By Barbara Kollmeyer
(wheeeeee! for 2 hummers, cars or otherwise, the SEC will look the other way at your investigation!)
Last update: 5:04 a.m. EST Dec. 17, 2008
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to probe the relationship between the niece of financier Bernard L. Madoff and a former official at the agency, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The probe comes on the heels of an admission by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox that the agency was aware of numerous red flags raised over Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the focus of an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. The agency has launched an investigation of its oversight into the firm. In a statement released Tuesday, the SEC chairman said its initial findings were "deeply troubling," indicating that those red flags going back to at least 1999 were repeatedly brought to the attention of the SEC, without any action being taken. The SEC said its investigation would include all staff contact and relationships with the Madoff family and firm, "and their impact, if any, on decisions by staff regarding the firm." Last year, Madoff's niece, Shana Madoff, married former SEC attorney Eric Swanson, who worked at the SEC for 10 years. Neither person was named in the statement as a target of the probe. (Adds dateline) End of Story |
