The infamous Bernard L. Madoff stands accused of making off with $50 billion from some presumably very savvy investors. How he managed to dupe them and the Securities and Exchange Commission remains a mystery, subject to much speculation, and certainly some interesting congressional committee hearings down the road.

While investigators try to unravel how he managed to bilk so many in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history, there appears to be little doubt that the people who were assigned to uncover those schemes before they got too far, failed miserably.

The failure falls squarely on the shoulders of the SEC, which indeed did look at Mr. Madoff's books. It appears he somehow sweet-talked his way through the audit, allowing him to continue to allegedly embezzle and ruin many, including charitable institutions.

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