Where is meaghan cheung now

The SEC report also said Mr. Madoff had violated rules requiring investment advisers to register with the SEC, which makes them subject to inspections and examinations. Investment advisers must register if they have more than 15 clients.

Investigators also checked out Mr. Markopolos's claim that Mr. Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme. But the billions of dollars of assets held by Mr. Madoff's asset-management unit appeared to match those that various investment firms said they had placed with Madoff, suggesting that there weren't problems. Today, it is now known that that Mr. Madoff had many more investors — such as individuals and charities — which weren't disclosed in regulatory filings, making it harder for investigators at that time to ascertain precisely how much money he was managing.

That, too, could have thrown off investigators a few years ago. In other words, Madoff didn't make it easy for them. She was last photographed in a lounge chair on the beach in San Tropez using hundred dollar bills to light her Tiki torches. In fact, here is that very photo from the New York Times op-ed that pretty much sums up this whole tale:.

OK, back to reality. The photo is really from an article about Cheung in yesterday's NY Post, and I think it and her actual story further drives home the point I raised in this prior post: The suggestion that lawyers in the SEC's Division of Enforcement are motivated to not pursue securities fraud so that they can go on to be paid huge sums of money by Wall Street is simply wrong.

In Cheung's case, she was an Ivy League-educated attorney who "worked very hard for 10 years to make a career, and a reputation, and that has been destroyed in a month" she told the NY Post. She said that the SEC worked as hard as it could on the Madoff investigation, and she "was not influenced, and I don't believe anyone in the New York office was influenced by any other desire than to find out the truth.

Given her background, years of experience, and the fact that she voluntarily left the SEC and the workforce altogether to stay home with her children prior to the Madoff fraud coming to light, her comments to the Post below strike me as those of someone who did the best she could and with the right intentions:.

Cheung said she was "shocked" to learn of Madoff's arest and confession to a Ponzi scheme last month and "thinks it's a tragedy. Cheung adamantly denied looking the other way in the Madoff case for future gain in the financial industry. Allegations of impropriety and unethical behavior are so unfair and hurtful. Image: CNN. Misstep [TPM] : Vasilakis, who joined the SEC out of college in , was a member of the examination team that investigated the Madoff, Avellino, and Bienes operation -- and was left in awe.

He told investigators for the SEC inspector general's report pdf on the Madoff fiasco, released last month:.

Now: Vasilakis is now chief compliance officer for the hedge fund Atticus Capital. Markopolos concluded that Ward "didn't even have a basic understanding of finance," as he put it to the IG investigators.

According to that report, Ward told a colleague that he would refer the complaint to the North East regional office, but never did. Now: Since , Levitt has been a senior adviser at the Carlyle Group, a politically connected private equity firm. Image kepplerspeakers. After a deeply flawed investigation, as detailed by the IG's report, Suh recommended closing the case , finding no serious wrongdoing by Madoff.

She subsequently received the highest possible performance rating. Suh's recommendation to close the case was reviewed and signed by Doria Bachenheimer, assistant regional director in the New York office, and Meaghan Cheung, branch chief of the New York Enforcement Division, both of whom resigned in Harry Markopolos, a Boston financial analyst who considers mathematics a hobby, figured out that Madoff was running a scam.

Harry did not engage in conjecture or guess-work. He developed mathematical proof that Madoff was not engaging in any legitimate investment activities whatsoever. As a patriotic American, Harry then tried for close to ten years to explain his proof to the S. Had anyone listened to Harry, the largest financial fraudfeasor in history would have been caught, and billions of dollars in investor funds would have been saved.

Instead, Madoff was never caught—he turned himself in once his Ponzi scheme no longer had the momentum to sustain itself.

He had no monetary incentive for this, it was purely out of patriotism. Harry is a great American not because of his dogged pursuit of truth and justice, despite all the obstacles against him, or because of his deeply-ingrained love for his country, although he has those things in abundance. He is a great American because he is not a man of half-measures.

As I noted earlier, the book provides valuable insight into the culture and inner workings of two worlds: government and Wall Street. As with any journey, Harry begins at the beginning; that is, he starts off by describing the formidable lessons he learned early in life. When he turns his keen anthropological eye toward the government the result is no less interesting.

No qui tam lawyer will, however, share his surprise at the lack of enthusiasm shown by the federal agency to whom he first reported the fraud in this case, the S. The fact of the matter is that cooperation from the federal or state agency is, in every in qui tam case, absolutely crucial to a successful outcome. The feelings of helplessness that Markopolos experienced only increased over time, because he was not successful in his quest to blow the whistle on Madoff.

At that point, thank goodness, his journey parts company with that of many qui tam relators. His journey is different largely because qui tam relators in federal cases have the U. Department of Justice on our side. The book should renew the appreciation qui tam lawyers have for the U. We are truly fortunate in federal cases to have the involvement of the United States Department of Justice.

The civil enforcement folks at DOJ are top-notch litigators who take their obligations to investigate every case filed under the statute very seriously. More important, if there is a disagreement, it is normally about something that reasonable people can disagree about.

As a result, DOJ can, and often does, help the agency to change its mind and arrive at the right conclusion about a case.