Genevievette Walker-Lightfoot is a former
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
(SEC) attorney. She worked on the
Bernard Madoff
Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ s ...
investigation in 2004, as the Lead Investigator for the SEC on the case. She discovered key elements of the Madoff
Ponzi scheme
A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...
and reported them to her superiors. She was moved off the case prior to being able to complete the investigation.
Education
Genevievette E. Walker graduated from
Walt Whitman High School in
Huntington, New York
The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...
, received her B.A. from
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
, and attended the
Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
(J.D., 1999).
American Stock Exchange
Walker-Lightfoot worked at the American Stock Exchange from 1999–2001 as a staff lawyer.
Madoff investment scandal
Walker-Lightfoot worked at the SEC from 2001–06.
While a lawyer in the SEC's Office of Compliance, Inspections and Examinations, she was tasked in 2003–04 with conducting the SEC’s investigation into a complaint about the activities of now-convicted Ponzi-schemer
Bernard Madoff
Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ s ...
and his firm.
Her work revealed troubling questions.
In March 2004 she informed her supervisor, Branch Chief Mark Donohue, and his boss, Assistant Director
Eric Swanson
Eric J. Swanson is an American lawyer who worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and dated and eventually married the niece of Bernard Madoff while the SEC was investigating Madoff's investment firm for what was eventually r ...
, that she was concerned because her review of Bernard Madoff found numerous inconsistencies, and that she recommended further follow-up questioning.
However, in April 2004 she was told by Donohue and Swanson that because of pressure to investigate the
mutual fund
A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...
industry, she was to focus on that investigation instead, conclude work on the probe, and to give all of her documentation from the Madoff investigation to a co-worker.
After the investigation concluded, Swanson married
Shana Madoff
Shana Diane Madoff ( ; born December 8, 1967), sometimes referred to as Shana Madoff Skoller Swanson, is an American former attorney who is now a yoga teacher.
She is the daughter of Peter Madoff, and a niece of Bernie Madoff, who employed her ...
, a niece of Bernie Madoff and the in-house compliance attorney at Madoff's firm. A spokesman for Swanson, who has left the SEC, said Swanson "did not participate in any inquiry of Bernard Madoff Securities or its affiliates while involved in a relationship" with Shana Madoff.
Walker-Lightfoot sent emails to her supervisor saying information provided by Madoff during her review didn't add up, and sent up a set of questions to ask Madoff's firm, according to a report in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. It is alleged that several of the questions alleged to have been raised directly challenged Madoff activities that turned out to be elements of his massive fraud, the newspaper said, however the SEC Inspector General’s report on the Madoff scandal notes that she was “the only person involved in the
EC’sMadoff examination to refuse to testify” to the OIG and it was therefore “difficult to assess her credibility” in making such claims.
Madoff was sentenced to a prison term of 150 years on June 29, 2009, after he pleaded guilty to a decades-long fraud that U.S. prosecutors said drew in as much as $65 billion.
''The Washington Post'' reported that when Walker-Lightfoot reviewed the paper documents and electronic data supplied to the SEC by Madoff, she found it full of inconsistencies, according to documents, a former SEC official, and another person knowledgeable about the 2004 investigation.
Swanson, no longer with the agency, declined to comment, the Post said. SEC spokesman John Nester also declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation by the agency's Inspector General,
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
reported.
Walker-Lightfoot left the SEC in January 2006, after having received a judgment in her favor against the SEC in a
hostile work environment
In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination. Common complaints in sexua ...
case Walker-Lightfoot did not experience a break in Federal service, as she immediately went to work at the
Federal Reserve Board of Governors
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mon ...
, where she worked as a specialist in risk management and large financial institutions
until October 2011.
On November 16, 2009, Walker-Lightfoot was sworn into the Supreme Court of the United States bar.
SEC leadership changes
Leaders of the SEC testified on February 4, 2009, before the
United States House Committee on Financial Services
The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
subcommittee including
Linda Chatman Thomsen
Linda Chatman Thomsen was the director of the Division of Enforcement for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2005 until early 2009. Since arriving at the SEC in 1995, she worked under four SEC Chairmen: Arthur Levitt, Harvey Pitt, ...
(SEC enforcement director), acting
General Counsel
A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department.
In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...
Andy Vollmer, Andrew Donohue, Erik Sirri, and Lori Richards (SEC Director of compliance inspections and examinations; Walker-Lightfoot's Senior Department Head)), and Stephen Luparello of the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...
(FINRA).
The subject of the hearings was why the SEC had failed to act when
Harry Markopolos
Harry M. Markopolos (born October 22, 1956) is an American former securities industry executive and a forensic accounting and financial fraud investigator.
From 1999 to 2008, Markopolos uncovered evidence that suggested that Bernie Madoff's wea ...
, a private fraud investigator, alerted the SEC detailing his persistent and unsuccessful efforts to get the SEC to investigate Madoff, beginning in 1999.
Richards ultimately testified that her department failed to find Madoff due to having to "match available staff resources to the most pressing needs". She restated the same cause for missing the Madoff Ponzi scheme June 17, 2009, in a speech at the
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) is a United States industry trade group representing securities firms, banks, and asset management companies. SIFMA was formed on November 1, 2006, from the merger of the Bond Mar ...
's Compliance and Legal Division St. Louis Regional Seminar.
On July 9, six days after the ''Washington Post'' article concerning Walker-Lightfoot's involvement in the Madoff investigation was published), ''The Post'' announced that Richards would resign from the SEC in order to "take on new challenges."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker-Lightfoot, Genevievette
Georgetown University alumni
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Columbus School of Law alumni
People from Long Island
American lawyers
African-American lawyers
1972 births
Living people
American women lawyers
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission personnel
Date of birth missing (living people)
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women