Madoff only part of issue
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share thisU.S. District Judge Denny Chin was suitably unsympathetic when sentencing Bernie Madoff this week, despite the swindler's avowed contrition for his record-setting $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Scores of burned investors applauded when Judge Chin sentenced Mr. Madoff to 150 years in federal prison.
Hold the applause for the bigger picture, though. Still unanswered is how Mr. Madoff was able to pull off what the judge called a "spectacularly evil" enterprise under the nose of the Securities and Exchange Commission. That regulatory agency was supposed to have oversight of operations like that run by Mr. Madoff.
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, has been asking for months for the SEC to release its internal investigation of its failure to detect Mr. Madoff's nefarious dealings, and to make recommendations to improve enforcement.
The investigation is not yet complete but the agency has responded to Mr. Kanjorski's request with recommendations ranging from enhanced powers for existing agencies to empowering whistle-blowers.
Congress should move quickly. The Madoff case never truly will be closed as long as the potential exists for other spectacularly evil swindlers to evade the law.
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