When the news broke about the $50 billion Ponzi Scheme that Bernie Madoff engineered over a twenty to thirty year period, I knew the story rang a bell. I went back through my records and found the original Barron’s article in 2001, and written by Erin Arvedlund. Included in her excellent research were quotes from several well known Wall Street veterans where they openly questioned Madoffs ability to consistently generate 15% plus returns, year after year, in good market or bad. All of the warning signs were there, and lots of bright people believed that this guy was running a huge scam. They were right, but no one seemed to care.

I contacted Erin a few days ago about the article and found her comments most interesting. “After I wrote the article, nothing happened. No one contacted me from the SEC or anything. I found that pretty strange….the story just died”.

As long time subscribers to the VRA know, I’ve been writing about the vast conflicts of interest on Wall Street for ...