Subscribe to this blog's feed...possibly the greatest crime in history by a clear two orders of magnitude. To put it in terms that the previous record holder, the 17th century pirate Long Ben Every, would understand - $50 billion at current prices would get you 1500 tons of gold bullion. We'll have analysis of the implications tomorrow - in the meantime...
The WSJ publishes a 2005 memo to the SEC from one Harry Markopolos highlighting 29 red flags with Madoff's business.
It's hard to see the SEC coming out of this unscathed. Senior heads will have to roll.
A quick look at Madoff's auditors, "Friehling & Horowitz, which had only three employees, of [whom] one was 78 years old and living in Florida [and] one was a secretary". They "seemed a peculiar choice".
Via Brad DeLong: How We Knew Bernie Madoff Was A Fraud - as reported, hilariously, by Henry Blodget. (For younger readers who may not remember the glory days of 1999-2001 - this is how we knew Henry Blodget was a fraud.)
And a rather less serious checklist on due diligence from Long or Short Capital:
1. If your investment manager has almost no volatility in his returns, either he is an annuity (and you are a moron) or he is lying (and you are a moron).
