Word: fraud
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...accomplish all that, Kotz and his team are listening carefully to whistleblowers like Harry Markopolos, the private securities fraud investigator who dogged Madoff for years and whistled loudly, and to others, both inside and outside the agency. "Harry has been helpful for two reasons; he has specifics on how Madoff operated and how he claims the SEC failed in listening to him. We are also listening to his recommendations for change within the agency...
...important are whistleblowers in catching investor fraud? According to Stephen Obie, acting director of the division of enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, over 50% of Ponzi schemes and other frauds he investigates come to him through whistleblowers and investor complaints. The CFTC is the sister agency of the SEC, handling commodities, futures, and foreign currency fraud...
Obie and his team have uncovered seven new Ponzi schemes this year alone, the most recent being this week's $4.4 million affinity Ponzi hitting Hawaii's deaf community and, though not officially called a Ponzi, the SEC's alleged $8 billion CD fraud by R. Allen Stanford, the globe-trotting financier and cricket impresario...
Then there's Laura Goldman, another lone voice in the wilderness of Wall Street enforcement. Goldman, who blew whistles on such notable investment frauds as First Jersey Securities, Bayou Hedge Fund and Lydia Capital, among others, now has the full attention of SEC Inspector Kotz's office. In all, Goldman says she has alerted the SEC over 30 times and, despite its cold shoulder, through one means or another she has seen 25 of those tips lead to fraud charges being filed...
...early February, Goldman provided Kotz's office with a list of 11 recommendations to fix the agency, including a 10% bounty on uncovering fraud, a retail-broker-trained commissioner, greater authority to jail or to levy severe financial penalties, and an online clearinghouse for complaints. In response, Heidi Steiber, senior counsel to Kotz, told Goldman that "many ideas were worthy of consideration...