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Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, says SEC may have destroyed documents“From what I’ve seen, it looks as if the SEC might have sanctioned some level of case-related document destruction,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, in a letter to the agency’s chairman, Mary Schapiro. “It doesn’t make sense that an agency responsible for investigations would want to get rid of potential evidence. If these charges are true, the agency needs to explain why it destroyed documents, how many documents it destroyed over what timeframe, and to what extent its actions were consistent with the law.” Agency staff “destroyed...

The Securities and Exchange Commission inspector general has agreed to a request from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to probe the timing and political motivations of the SEC’s $550 million settlement with Goldman Sachs in a mortgage securities fraud case:m SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz agreed in April to a request from U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, that he probe whether politics prompted the lawsuit against Goldman Sachs. (Snip) Aside from the timing, many observers scoffed at the settlement. The $550 million settlement is pocket change compared to Goldman’s $162 billion in assets

SEC IG says he 'intends' to probe timing of Goldman charges By Jordan Fabian - 04/23/10 05:53 PM ET The inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Friday that he will likely investigate the timing of the agency's civil charges against Goldman Sachs. The ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) sent a letter to the inspector general David Kotz earlier Friday questioning the timing of the civil charges against the banking giant in light of the financial reform debate in the Senate. "I have received the letter and do intend...

Madoff: It's 'Amazing' I Didn't Get Caught Sooner Posted By: Scott Cohn Senior Correspondent, CNBC 30 Oct 2009 | 07:26 PM ET Jailed swindler Bernie Madoff said it was "amazing" that he didn't get caught sooner in his multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, and that everything the SEC did to investigate him prior to 2006 was a waste of time, according to a jailhouse interview he gave to SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz. Madoff also told Kotz that SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro was a "dear friend," although she "probably thinks, 'I wish I never knew this guy.'" For the SEC's Full...

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority didn't fully probe Bernard Madoff's firm and repeatedly failed to investigate tips about R. Allen Stanford's alleged $7 billion fraud, an internal report found.

Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairmen and directors were generally unaware that staff were probing Bernard Madoff until the former financier was arrested in December 2008 for running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, a federal watchdog said in a report released on Friday. The report underscores the disconnection between senior officials and their employees, who often lacked the experience necessary to follow up on leads and understand the magnitude of their investigation. Former Chairmen Christopher Cox, William Donaldson and Arthur Levitt, former director of enforcement Linda Thomsen and former director of examinations and compliance, Lori Richards, did not play...