CNBC
For almost ten years Harry Markopolos tried, and failed, to alert regulators and investors of Bernie Madoff's $65 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.
In his new book "No One Would Listen", Markopolos writes of how he and a group of colleagues spent years gathering information about Madoff and sending it to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Initially they hoped it would level the playing field by eliminating a successful rival they believed was engaged in fraud, later it became a mission to bring down a man they believed posed a risk to the entire financial system.
For Markopolos, a former hedge fund manager and forensic accountant, trying to bring down a man he considered one of the most powerful on Wall Street was one fraught with risks, for his career and family.
In an extended interview Markopolos speaks about his book, his investigation, his frustration with the regulators and how he feared for his own life.
Living Under a "Death Sentence"Markopolos said he was living under a "death sentence" for ten years. Believing Madoff's client list included drug cartels and organized crime, Markopolos went to extremes to protect himself and his family, even going so far as to devise a plan to kill Madoff.
Markopolos, and his former colleague Frank Casey — who helped Markopolos in his pursuit to bring Madoff to the attention of regulators — discusses what it was like to live under that "death sentence."
Frustration with SEC
For nine years, Markopolos tried repeatedly to bring Madoff's expanding Ponzi scheme to the SEC's attention.
Markopolos said he grew increasingly frustrated, angry at the SEC, eventually losing faith in the agency.
He talks about the day he found out Madoff turned himself in, and how his relief that Madoff was behind bars quickly turned to fear the SEC would try to come after him.
Convincing the SEC
Markopolos spent nine years of his life trying to convince the SEC of something he figured out in a matter of minutes - that Madoff was a fraud.
Markopolos said the unpaid and dogged investigation undertaken by him and a group of colleagues he dubbed "the foxhounds". Their sole purpose, to bring Bernie Madoff and his international Ponzi scheme down.
Markopolos was joined by Casey, one of "the foxhounds" and the person who first brought Madoff to Markopolos's attention after meeting with Access International's Thierry de La Villehuchet in New York back in 2000.
Financial Industry Culpable
Markopolos speaks candidly about the SEC and Wall Street turning a blind eye to the multibillion dollar scam Madoff was orchestrating right underneath their noses.
Markopolos and Casey spoke of how the financial industry shares some of the blame for the fraud, and how he may have missed a chance to get one former Wall Street sheriff on Madoff's trail.
