As the AP reports, in 2005 Bernie Madoff was actually caught on tape coaching an employee at Fairfield-Greenwich Advisors in the fine art of fooling the SEC. In an exchange that sounds like something out of a mob movie, the call begins with Madoff saying, "Obviously, first of all this conversation never took place, ok?"
Fairfield-Greenwich, a New York-based hedge fund, fed billions into Madoff's investment scam. A transcript was released yesterday by Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin, whose office reached an $8 million settlement with Fairfield-Greenwich requiring the fund to repay state investors.
Here's more info on the transcript of from the AP:
Madoff dismissed an SEC investigation "fishing expedition" and highlighted how investigators develop cozy relationships with firms they are supposed to regulate.
"The guys ... ask a zillion different questions and we look at them sometimes and we laugh, and we say are you guys writing a book?" Madoff said. "These guys they work for five years at the commission then they become a compliance manager at a hedge fund now."
LISTEN to a recording of Madoff's tips on how to fool the SEC, and check out the full transcript of the conversation below: