SEC dumps chief ‘enforcer’ on Madoff scandal; Bernie reaches partial settlement with probers

The Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement chief is out as the agency faces anger over its handling of the Bernie Madoff alleged Ponzi scam.

The SEC said Monday that Linda Thomsen, its director of enforcement, was leaving to return to the private sector.

There have been reports that newly appointed SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro was talking to ex-federal prosecutor Robert Khuzami about replacing Thomsen. Khuzami is currently Deutsche Bank’s chief counsel for the Americas.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday it obtained a partial settlement that will impose a permanent injunction against Bernard Madoff in its civil complaint for his alleged role in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

The judgment, submitted to a New York federal judge, makes permanent a temporary injunction imposed on Mr. Madoff in December that froze his assets and restrained him from violating the antifraud provisions of securities laws.

Mr. Madoff did not admit any wrongdoing under this partial settlement, but under its terms, he won’t be able to challenge the allegations when it comes to determining fines and disgorgement.

…Great Neck appears to be the hardest hit area here, with about 600 accounts invested with Madoff, who is out on $10 million bail and under house arrest at his Upper East Side apartment. The losses overall have had a myriad of effects, ranging from the devastation Adele and her husband face to not as worrisome ones faced by more moneyed investors.

Even though his name and the names of his late parents appear on the 162-page list of purported Bernard Madoff investors, Ira Sorkin, Madoff’s attorney, tells the Wall Street Journal: “I have never been an investor or customer of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. I’m not going to talk about my family members.”