Mass. investor saw inside Madoff scam

[douglas9]

Source: Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) -- His repeated warnings that Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff was running a giant Ponzi scheme have cast Harry Markopolos as an unheeded prophet.

But people who know or worked with Markopolos say it wasn't prescience that helped him foresee the collapse of Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud. Instead, they say diligence and a strong moral sense drove his quixotic, nine-year quest to alert regulators about Madoff.

"He followed through on everything he ever did. He never let up," said his mother, Georgia Markopolos, in an interview Thursday. "Some kids just let it go if it's too hard, but he wouldn't do that."

"He feels very sorry for these people that got taken," she added. "It wouldn't have happened if they would have listened to him long ago."

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MADOFF_SCANDAL_WHISTLEBLOWER?SITE=PAYOK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[willing dwarf]

1. Thanks, very interesting!

[Historic NY]

2. If its too good to believe than its probably not good at all...96%

[bertman]

3. Thanks for posting this, douglas9. It's good to know that SOMEONE was trying to expose this.

[nc4bo]

4. Can we please find a place in the new administration for this man? nt

[NJCher]

5. afraid for his life

This article tells how Markopolos was afraid for his life! He must have had good reason for that and not just the sheer amount of money Madoff handled. I would love to know more.

I posted an article about Markopolos and his suspicions a day or two after this story broke. My thread title was something like "If this Guy Could Figure Out Madoff, Why Couldn't the SEC?" In that article, it tells how guys like Markopolos can collect huge sums of money for figuring this type of thing out. It takes a long time before they get paid, though. The amounts are huge. The article quoted something like $13.2 as the sum collected for one fraud discovery.

So what I'm saying is that Markopolos, because of what he did, could eventually become a multimillionaire himself. Legitimately, however. :)



Cher

[Laelth]

6. It also says he's in hiding NOW.

k&r for courage.

:dem:

-Laelth

[brentspeak]

9. No, he's just laying low because he's not interested in the media publicity

Who would he be afraid of? Not Madoff, who got busted by his own sons.

[judasdisney]

7. Baloney. He was a Tinfoil Conspiracy Theorist

because there are no conspiracies.

Wait a minute -- it couldn't be a conspiracy either, because Madoff was a "Lone Gunman": http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Did-Bernard-Madoff-act-hftn-13881240.html

Markopolos belongs in a mental institution. He's a very paranoid, sick person.

[customerserviceguy]

8. No doubt

every investment broker has someone who has denounced him/her for practically forever. One day, even Chicken Little is going to be right.

[Kaleko]

10. In other words, no credit where credit is due.

Got it.

[customerserviceguy]

12. In this particular case

it was the equivalent of a tree falling in a forest when no one's around to hear it.

Like I said, every investment broker has someone who thinks they're a crook. If every allegation made by everyone were followed up and caused the broker to leave the business, there'd be no one around to sell investments. Not that that's a bad thing, but the SEC, like any regulatory agency, is around just to get rid of the worst of the bad apples, not to cut down the whole orchard.

We're all pretty powerless when it comes to our money, anybody's bank or credit union statements, or 401K trustee statements could be just as much worthless paper and ink as Madoff's were. If Mort Zuckerman, the managing editor of US News and World Report could get fooled, ordinary people have zero chance.

One voice crying in the wilderness, even if 100% right, is not going to change anything. I'd give this gentleman credit if he were able to effectively get others on his side to investigate Madoff, but he failed to do so. Just because we can look ten years into the rearview mirror to see that he was right does not make him effective, he's more like flipping a coin a million times, and he's the time it landed on the edge rather than heads or tails.

[MadMaddie]

11. No one could be bothered over the last several years to

listen to the truth, truth wasn't making them money. Sadly, many are paying a heavy price.

And again deregulation by Reagan started this downward spiral....many saw it coming and they were mocked.