Skip navigation
MOST POPULAR RELATED TAGS
  • TOPICS
  • SECTORS
  • COMPANIES

FEATURED SLIDESHOW

  Who Is The Worst CEO?
  Mad Money needed new inductees for its  
  Wall of Shame, so we asked viewers for
  nominations.

Text SMS AlertGet stock and market information from Mad Money's Jim Cramer sent to your mobile phone.

MAD MONEY FEATURES

Podcasts PODCASTS
Watch the Lightning Round whenever and wherever you want.




Widget OFFICIAL MAD MONEY WIDGET
Grab this all-in-one application and get recaps of the show sent right to your desktop or blog.




Soundboard CRAMERS SOUNDBOARD
Admit it: You've always wanted to hit the "They
know nothing!" button. Here’s your chance.




Mad Money PhotosCHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS
Check out Cramer on set, back to school, behind the scenes and more.




ShopSHOP FOR MAD MERCHANDISE
Buy Cramer books, bobbleheads and other Mad Money merchandise.




Ringtones RING TONES
Pick up the phone! It's Cramer! New Mad Money sounds for your cell phone.




Mobile AlertTEXT MESSAGE ALERT
Mad Money's mobile. Get show highlights sent to your phone.







Text Size
Jan.05
8:25 PM ET
Monday, 5 Jan 2009
Holding SEC Accountable for Madoff

The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated alleged Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff eight times and found only minor infractions. Nothing even close to the $50 billion fraud he supposedly perpetrated. But Cramer’s one-time review of Madoff’s business showed his legendary returns were anything but.

How’d Cramer do it? He ran the numbers. Something you’d assume the SEC could also do. That 80% return Madoff claimed for the period between early 2000 until October 2008? Turns out the number was closer to –2.66%, at least according to Cramer’s research. All the SEC had to do was check the performance of the options Madoff said he was trading to figure this out. Cramer did it…

That’s why he doesn’t want anyone believing the SEC’s claims that it had no way of knowing just how fraudulent Madoff appears to have been. Despite letters to the SEC’s Boston office about the alleged Ponzi scheme, there was still no in-depth look at the strategies Madoff was using to make those “big” returns.

The feeder funds that invested with Madoff were just as bad. These “funds of funds” could have figured out what was going on but never bothered to try. In fact, one such fund, Tremont, went so far as to put their complacency into writing. Check out this pull-quote from a document the firm sent to clients: “…in addition, information supplied by the investment advisor may be inaccurate or even fraudulent. The co-managers are entitled to rely on such information (provided they do so in good faith) and are not required to undertake any due diligence to confirm the accuracy thereof.”

So Tremont’s clients shelled out big bucks to have their money managed by people who didn’t think it was their job to responsibly manage their clients’ money. Make sense?

Hence Cramer’s outrage. The SEC has no excuse for its complete and total miss of Madoff’s allegedly fraudulent behavior, and these feeder funds, while they might deny it, are responsible for their clients’ losses.









Questions for Cramer?

Questions, comments, suggestions for the Mad Money website?

© 2009 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Tools:
PrintEmailAdd This share icon
Next Post


Current DateTime: 01:04:45 05 Jul 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 01:05:17 05 Jul 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 01:04:45 05 Jul 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 01:05:17 05 Jul 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
CNBCCNBC
About CNBC  |  Site Map  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Service  |  Video Reprints  |  Advertise  |  Help  |  Contact
Partners: AOL Money  |  BloggingStocks.com
CNBC is a Division of NBC Universal
  Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters