The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) failed to act to stop the alleged fraud of Bernard Madoff, despite repeated and detailed warnings from a whistleblower, who made that assertion as he testified today before a congressional committee.

Harry Markopolos, "a former securities industry executive and fraud investigator, brought his allegations to the SEC about improprieties in Madoff's business starting in 2000 after determining there was no way Madoff could have been making the consistent returns he claimed using the trading strategy he touted to prospective investors," explains an Associated Pressreport about the congressional hearing on Madoff on MSNBC. Markopolos pointed out 29 red flags, notes the story.

Markopolos details his allegations in 375 pages of testimony. Among his assertions was that Madoff's strategy required all or nearly all stocks in the portfolio to rise each month, which Markopolos notes was not sustainable. Markopolos also lays out how he tried to alert authorities at various levels of the SEC to little avail.