SEC inspector general leaving post after 4 years

[January 18, 2012]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The inspector general for the Securities and Exchange Commission is leaving his position after four years, during which he put the agency under harsh scrutiny and exposed serious lapses in detecting or pursuing major fraud schemes.

The SEC announced Tuesday that David Kotz will leave at the end of January to become a managing director of Gryphon Strategies, a private investigative firm. One of Kotz's investigations found that the agency bungled its examinations of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff over 16 years, allowing him to carry on his estimated $20 billion investment fraud until December 2008.

With a series of investigations, Kotz unearthed problems and conflicts at the SEC that stirred attention in Congress. That was a stark contrast from his predecessor.

[Associated Press]

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