WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has disciplined seven agency employees over their handling of the Madoff investment fraud, sources said.
However, none of the seven employees of the SEC, which failed to stop Bernard Madoff's long-running investment fraud despite repeated warnings, has been fired, The Washington Post reported Friday.
An eighth employee resigned before disciplinary action was taken, a source told the Post.
The punishments given the employees varied and included suspensions, pay cuts and demotions, the source said.
Madoff's fraud cost investors billions of dollars and was a major embarrassment for the SEC.
A report by the SEC's inspector general found the agency "received numerous substantive complaints since 1992 that raised significant red flags concerning Madoff's hedge fund operations."
Although five examinations and inspections of Madoff were conducted, agency personnel "never took the necessary and basic steps to determine if Madoff was misrepresenting his trading," the report said.
