How Madoff's Ponzi scheme was exposed

The book is the story of Harry Markopolos, the whistleblower who uncovered Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme 10 years before the rest of the world learned of the biggest financial crime in history. While a lot has been written about Madoff's scam, few actually know the dramatic details of how Markopolos and his team, whom he dubbed The Foxhounds, went about investigating and slowly peeling away the layers of fraud that reached around the globe. Unfortunately, no one listened until the damage to investors reached into the multibillions. Since that time, Markopolos has openly testified and questioned the enforcement and fraud investigation capabilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission and has become one of the world's most visible and insightful whistleblowers.

In the book, Harry Markopolos provides a firsthand account of the SEC's negligence in following up on a whistleblower's repeated warnings to investigate Madoff. Markopolos describes how time and time again, the SEC ignored the proof that would have stopped Madoff's scam before so many billions of dollars were lost.

Markopolos' account shows how weak Wall Street's "watchdog" was in providing investors protection against serious crimes. It describes how Madoff was enabled by investors and fiduciaries alike. Many people in the financial industry knew or suspected that Madoff was not legitimate, yet no one wanted to mess with the profits flowing from Madoff's "investments".

The book reveals the story behind Markopolos's many attempts to expose Madoff and protect investors.

(China Daily 05/31/2010 page17)