Review Essay

No one would listen

By Joseph Kiobbo, Newman University

No one would Listen: A True Financial Thriller. Harry Markopolos, ed.
New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2010. Pp. 345.
$17.35 (hard cover) This book brought out the failures of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in America’s history, as orchestrated by Bernie Madoff. Harry Markopolos caught up with Madoff’s Ponzi scheme earlier on in his career and saw all the red flags. There was no explanation of the continuous one percent yield in over forty five stocks that Madoff dealt with. Madoff took advantage of the laxity by the SEC officials in failing to follow up complains with an investigation, and the trust
The markets began a calamitous and accelerating decline. With their non-Madoff investments pulverized, more and more customers turned to what they thought were their most solid holding: They began requesting withdrawals from Madoff's fund. Madoff was keeping up his façade at work. But at home his desperation had begun to show. In November and early December, he asked his wife to make two transfers totaling $15.5 million from a brokerage account to her personal bank account so that the cash would be at hand. Madoff had never made such a request before, two sources say. Ruth has insisted her husband didn't inform her of the fraud until the day before he was arrested. She maintains, according to one of these sources, that Bernie said he needed the cash to pay customer redemptions. By this point, $15.5 million was a pittance compared with what he needed. As of early December, investors had demanded the return of some $7 billion. If Madoff truly withdrew his wife's money for that purpose, he had reached the point where he was rooting around in the sofa cushions for loose change. When the SEC arrived with dozens of agents from the FBI, and the Securities Investor Protection Commission, the 17th floor was abuzz with activity. The 17th floor was designated a crime scene, and guards were posted. The staffers who worked on 17 were herded to a small conference room near the coffee machines on the 18th floor, where they sat nervously in what some of them called "office arrest." One