Nov 11, 2011

SEC disciplines 8 for not stopping Madoff swindle

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY Updated 7m ago

U.S. Justice DepartmentThe Securities and Exchange Commission says it has disciplined eight employees but fired none of them for failing to catch and stop Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Update at 3:57 p.m. ET: Just after posting this, The Washington Post updated its original story to say eight employees were disciplined but not fired over the Bernard Madoff scam and a ninth resigned before a week-long suspension, according to an SEC spokesman.

Original post: The Securities and Exchange Commission has disciplined seven employees for not stopping Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, The Washington Post reports. None was fired.

The discipline involved suspensions, pay cuts or demotions, the paper says, citing "a person familiar with the actions." An eighth employee resigned before the agency acted.

A second source, identified as "an official involved in the process," told the Post the SEC's human resources director recommended that chairwoman Mary Shapiro fire one of the workers -- an assistant regional director -- after an outside law firm hired as an adviser recommended the termination.

None of the employees was identified.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... -swindle/1