Synopses & Reviews
Bernie Madoff was a king of the financial world. He'd helped create NASDAQ and founded one of the most successful broker-dealers in the industry. He was also a beloved philanthropist. But very few people knew about his side business: he was quietly running the largest hedge fund in the world, a fund that eventually spread to over forty nations and handled tens of billions of dollars.
Harry Markopolos was a quant, a little-known number cruncher sitting at a desk at a Boston equity derivatives firm analyzing investment products. When a marketer for that firm, Frank Casey, handed Harry a prospectus outlining Madoff's strategy and asked him to create a similar product, he sat down and looked at the numbers. Literally within minutes Harry knew it was impossible to do. The numbers didn't add up.
For the next ten years, Harry Markopolos and the investigative team he recruited tried desperately to warn the government, the industry, and the financial press that the largest and most successful hedge fund in the industry was a total fraud and that the respected and admired Bernie Madoff was a crook. But No One Would Listen.
This is the thrilling, complete story of the pursuit of the greatest financial criminal in history—a chase that put Markopolos's life in jeopardy, led to international notoriety from his appearance on 60 Minutes, and once again opened the door to questions regarding the true effectiveness of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Markopolos's incredible investigation takes readers inside the financial industry, revealing the never-before-told stories behind the headlines. As he shows, Madoff was a creation of the anything-for-profit culture that has devastated our economy and that perhaps led thousands of industry professionals, who knew about the fraud, to adhere to the industry's code of silence.
No One Would Listen is the frighteningly true story of massive fraud, governmental incompetence, and criminal collusion that has changed thousands of lives forever—as well as the world's financial system.
Review
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STARRED REVIEW] Markopolos, the whistleblower who filed five unheeded complaints against Ponzi king Bernie Madoff over nine years, has produced an astonishing true-life whodunit set amidst the personalities, plots, and international intrigue of Wall Street. Having collected damning information on money manager Madoff-the respected co-founder of NASDAQ who ran the largest financial scam in history-since 1999, Markopolos's work as a chartered financial analyst and certified fraud examiner, aided by an industry journalist and two colleagues from his days as a derivatives portfolio manager, lays bare the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a tragically inept regulating agency that "didn't give a rat's ass about protecting investors," and seemed to consider Madoff "just another guy cutting some corners." Realizing he had not one but two powerful opponents-"Madoff and this nonfunctioning agency"-Markopolos refused to give up, despite fearing for his life and his family; accordingly, he transmits his team's determination and fascination in contagious detail. The hows and whys of Madoff's eventual arrest, Markopolos's subsequent appearances before Congress, and the carnival of press coverage makes a satisfying conclusion to this strange epic; Markopolos also includes complete documentation of his formal submissions to the SEC, plus his recommendations for much-needed reform at the agency.
(Mar.) (
PublishersWeekly.com, March 29, 2010)
"…a salutary tale and the detailed regulatory lessons offered in the epilogue deserve attention." (Financial Times, March 2010)
Synopsis
Harry Markopolos and his team of financial sleuths discuss first-hand how they cracked the Madoff Ponzi scheme
No One Would Listen is the exclusive story of the Harry Markopolos-lead investigation into Bernie Madoff and his $65 billion Ponzi scheme. While a lot has been written about Madoff's scam, few actually know how Markopolos and his team-affectionately called The Fox Hounds by Markopolos himself, uncovered what Madoff was doing years before this financial disaster reached its pinnacle. Unfortunately, no one listened, until the damage of the world's largest financial fraud ever was irreversible.
Since that time, Markopolos openly has testified and questioned the enforcement and fraud investigation capabilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shared a sliver of this page-turning story with 60 Minutes, and become perhaps the world's most visible and insightful whistleblower on fraud and conflicts of interest in financial markets.
Throughout the book, Markopolos and his Fox Hounds tell their first-hand story of investigating Madoff-with the help of bestselling author David Fisher. They explain how they discovered the fraud, and then how they provided credible and detailed evidence to major newspapers and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) many times between 2000 and 2008, only to have his warnings ignored repeatedly by the SEC. Provides a firsthand account of how Markopolos uncovered Madoff's scam years before it actually fell apart Discusses how the SEC missed the red flags raised by Markopolos Describes how Madoff was enabled by investors and fiduciaries alike The only book to tell the story of Madoff's scam and the SEC's failings by those who saw both first hand
Despite repeated written and verbal warnings to the SEC by Harry Markopolos, Bernie Madoff was allowed to continue his operations. No One Would Listen paints a vivid portrait of Markopolos and his determined team of financial sleuths, and what impact they will have on financial markets and financial regulation for decades to come.
Synopsis
Harry Markopolos and his team of financial sleuths discuss first-hand how they cracked the Madoff Ponzi schemeNo One Would Listen is the thrilling story of how the Harry Markopolos, a little-known number cruncher from a Boston equity derivatives firm, and his investigative team uncovered Bernie Madoff's scam years before it made headlines, and how they desperately tried to warn the government, the industry, and the financial press.
Page by page, Markopolos details his pursuit of the greatest financial criminal in history, and reveals the massive fraud, governmental incompetence, and criminal collusion that has changed thousands of lives forever-as well as the world's financial system.
- The only book to tell the story of Madoff's scam and the SEC's failings by those who saw both first hand
- Describes how Madoff was enabled by investors and fiduciaries alike
- Discusses how the SEC missed the red flags raised by Markopolos
Despite repeated written and verbal warnings to the SEC by Harry Markopolos, Bernie Madoff was allowed to continue his operations. No One Would Listen paints a vivid portrait of Markopolos and his determined team of financial sleuths, and what impact Madoff's scam will have on financial markets and regulation for decades to come.
Synopsis
Praise for No One Would Listen"Harry Markopolos is a hero . . . The silver lining in the Madoff collapse, if there could be such a thing, is that for at least one moment in time, the SEC has been exposed. And for his role in making that happen, Harry Markopolos deserves all of our thanks."
—from the Foreword by David Einhorn, President and Founder of Greenlight Capital author of Fooling Some of the People All of the Time
"How to improve financial regulation and reduce the federal budget deficit, all in one fell swoop? Fire the SEC. Hire Harry Markopolos."
—James Grant, Grant's Interest Rate Observer
"No One Would Listen is not the story of Bernie Madoff, but rather a tale of government incompetence so incredible that if it were a work of fiction, it would be dismissed as 'totally unrealistic.' If there is any good that is to come out of this incredible tale of governmental failure, it is that the magnitude and scope of regulatory incompetence was so extreme that it enhances the chances of true reform. Hopefully, the outrage over the facts brought to light by Harry Markopolos and his team of whistleblowers will encourage and expedite a complete structural and philosophical reorganization of the SEC."
—Jack Schwager, Investment Director, Fortune Group author of Market Wizards and the Schwager on Futures book series
"This is a fascinating story that, unfortunately, only begins to uncover the underlying problems that face the investment industry. I applaud Harry and his team for their courage and conviction to act."
—Gary G. Brent, Chairman HighView Financial Group
About the Author
HARRY MARKOPOLOS, a former securities industry executive turned independent financial fraud investigator, was the whistleblower who provided credible and detailed evidence several times from 2000–2008 that should have prompted an immediate investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission into Bernie Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Markopolos's investigation was assisted by his investigative team, including Frank Casey, Neil Chelo, and Michael Ocrant.
For additional information and resources, visit www.noonewouldlisten.com
Table of Contents
Foreword.
Who's Who.
Introduction.
Chapter 1: A Red Wagon in a Field of Snow.
Chapter 2: The Slot Machine That Kept Coming Up Cherries.
Chapter 3: Falling Down the Rabbit Hole.
Chapter 4: Finding More Peters (to Pay Paul).
Chapter 5: The Goddess of Justice Wears a Blindfold.
Chapter 6: Didn't Anyone Want a Pulitzer?
Chapter 7: More Red Flags Than the Soviet Union.
Chapter 8: Closing the Biggest Barn Door in Wall Street History.
Chapter 9: Soaring Like an Eagle Surrounded by Turkeys.
Epilogue: Mr. Pinkslip Goes to Washington.
Appendix A: Madoff Tops Charts; Skeptics Ask How.
Appendix B: The World's Largest Hedge Fund Is a Fraud.
Appendix C: Online Resource Guide for the Classroom and Beyond.
A Note on Sources.
About the Author.
Acknowledgments.
Index.