The government part of the Madoff scandal

After the $50 billion Madoff Ponzi scheme came to light, it was learned that, over a 16 year period, the Securities and Exchange Commission had received no less than 6 “tips” that the company was, well, a fraud.  The SEC did nothing.

In 2009, after the fraud was exposed, the SEC’s internal watchdog issued a report critical of the SEC’s handling of the matter.  Now, some two years later, we find out the process, and the discipline handed out to those most culpable in “dropping the ball”.

In a model of bureaucratic efficiency, by law, no one can be fired from the SEC without the approval of the director of human resources.  Springing into action, the SEC hired an outside law firm, Fortney & Scott, to assist the director in the decision making process.  No word yet on what said outside law firm cost you, the taxpayer. 

Fortney & Scott and the SEC’s human-resources director ultimately recommended that SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro fire one employee, unless that removal would have an adverse impact on the agency’s work. [emphasis supplied]

I can only assume that said employee is the backbone of the entire SEC because the discipline handed out by the Chairman was a suspension for 30 days without pay, a demotion and a pay grade reduction. 

Let’s think about that.  This employee was in a position to stop or greatly limit the losses suffered by those who invested their funds with Madoff.  He or she did nothing.  And yet that same individual is so important to the operations of the SEC that his or her dismissal would have an adverse impact on the agency.

Gee, I’d hate to see what the other employees who aren’t so critical do.

But, more to the point.  In the real world, were said employee to have allowed a $50 billion Ponzi scheme to continue under his or her nose, said employee would have been fired in a heart beat…no human resource director, no outside law firm, no “critical” to the organization.

Silly me.  I keep forgetting government doesn’t live in  the real world.

 

Posted in ,

SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

6 Comments

  1. JollyRoger on November 13, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    Why take on Madoff and face a potential backfire when one could simply get paid six figures while surfing for porn all day??? Looks like 30+ employees were doing? just that! http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2011/05/porn-surfing-sec-government-workers-not.html



  2. Plainvillian on November 13, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    Anonymous incompetence of faceless bureaucracy flouting its permanence.



  3. ricbee on November 13, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    In government no one is accountable….



  4. JBS on November 14, 2011 at 7:00 am

    It would be interesting to find out just how many dollars of the $50 Billion made it into the coffers of the DNC? And, are we taking the government’s word that over the 16 year period it wasn’t really more money swindled from investors?
    Of course, the Zero will blame Bush. He seems to be the only one accountable.



  5. Marilyn on November 14, 2011 at 7:57 am

    As we all know the governments answer to the failures of one agency is simply to ignor it and create another agency.?



  6. Dimsdale on November 14, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    What good is regulation (or over regulation) without enforcement?? Sadly, some pols will use this as an excuse to get even more regulations.



frontpg-cash-bag

The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.