<div><p>The US Securities and Exchange Commission flubbed a probe of confessed swindler Bernie Madoff, who pulled off one of the biggest frauds in Wall Street history, an internal probe showed.</p><p>SEC Inspector General David Kotz said in a report that the probe found the commission repeatedly failed to properly investigate allegations against Madoff, citing the use of "inexperienced" staff.</p><p>"The SEC received more than ample information in the form of detailed and substantive complaints over the years to warrant a thorough and comprehensive examination and/or investigation of Bernard Madoff and BMIS for operating a Ponzi scheme, and that despite three examinations and two investigations being conducted, a thorough and competent investigation or examination was never performed," the report said.</p><p>Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC or BMIS is his investment firm.</p><p>The SEC teams assembled to investigate Madoff were "relatively inexperienced" and there was "insufficient planning" for the examinations.</p><p>The first complaint was brought to the SEC's attention in 1992.</p><p>The SEC examinations were "too narrowly focused," with "no significant attempts made" to analyze the numerous red flags about Madoff's trading and returns.</p><p>SEC chairman Mary Schapiro, in a separate statement, said the report "makes clear that the agency missed numerous opportunities to discover the fraud.</p><p>"It is a failure that we continue to regret, and one that has led us to reform in many ways how we regulate markets and protect investors," she said.</p><p>Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina prison for a multi-billion dollar investment fraud that cheated thousands of people and institutions, including celebrities, charities and leading banks, over several decades.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=57947896&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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