1. When investors received their statements, what responsibility did they have to review and understand them? What signs could they have picked up on to alert them to potential problems?
2. What kind of due diligence did the feeder funds, such as Fairfield Greenwich, do? What didnt they do? Why were they sued by their clients?
3. Starting in 2001, whistleblower Harry Markopolos alerted the SEC three times to the likelihood that Bernard Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme. Why do you think the SEC didnt act on this information until 2006?
4. After the SEC cleared Bernard Madoff in its 2006 investigation, Harry Markopolos took his evidence to The Wall Street Journal, which did not publish it. What reasons can you think of as to why?
5. To what extent do you think the SEC did or did not do its job?
6. What was the final straw that uncovered the Madoff Ponzi scheme?