Watchdog Says SEC Mishandled Madoff Probes

Despite the claim though, it doesn't sound as if the report found any strong evidence of wrong doing, just a lot of sloppy work... According to NPR:

The watchdog of the Securities and Exchange Commission has found the agency consistently mishandled its five investigations of Bernard Madoff's business, despite ample complaints over 16 years about the multibillion-dollar fraud.

But SEC inspector general David Kotz's report found no evidence of any improper ties between agency officials and Madoff.

Despite speculation that senior SEC officials may have tried to influence the probes, a summary of Kotz's 450-page report released Wednesday also found no evidence of that.

The SEC enforcement staff, conducting investigations of Madoff's business, "almost immediately caught [him] in lies and misrepresentations, but failed to follow up on inconsistencies" and rejected whistleblowers' offers to provide additional evidence, the report says.

Revelations in December of the agency's failure to uncover Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme over more than a decade touched off one of the most painful scandals in the agency's 75-year history.

Ben Bernanke victim of identity theft?

At first I didn't believe it when I read, Bernanke Victimized by Identity Fraud Ring but it appears to not only be true but to be evidence that identity theft can happen to anyone...

If ever there were living proof that identity theft can strike the mighty and powerful as well as hapless consumers, look no further than the nation's chief banker: Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve Board chairman was one of hundreds of victims of an elaborate identity-fraud ring, headed by a convicted scam artist known as "Big Head," that stole more than $2.1 million from unsuspecting consumers and at least 10 financial institutions around the country, according to recently filed court records reviewed by NEWSWEEK.

Last summer, just as he was dealing with the first rumblings of the financial crisis on Wall Street, Bernanke learned that a thief had swiped his wife's purse—including the couple's joint check book. Days later, someone started cashing checks on the Bernanke family bank account, the documents show. "It's fair to say he was not pleased," said one close associate of Bernanke, who asked not to be identified discussing what the Fed chairman considers a private matter.