Trust No One With Your Investment Money

When tools like (former Republican California Congressman) Christopher Cox run the SEC:

1. Helen Chaitman, 67

Occupation: Attorney
Relationship to Madoff: Says she's invested money with Madoff since 2005

"Justice was served. I lost my entire savings, it was a lot of money...I think we've all learned that we can't trust the SEC. That was the big mistake I made. [Madoff] was recommended to me and I recognized after looking at his program that the only risk was that he [could be] a fraud, and I took great comfort in the fact that the SEC had investigated him and found him clean. I would not have invested had I not seen the SEC stamp of approval...He was earning 10% [returns] at a time when hedge funds were earning 20, 30, 40%. He wasn't offering extraordinary returns, but he was offering reliable returns with the SEC stamp of approval. "


2. Burt Ross, 65

Occupation: Retired; former mayor of Fort Lee, N.J.
Relationship to Madoff: Says he invested with Madoff since 2004

"I spoke to him on the phone one time and congratulated him on the great work he was doing. Very wealthy friends recommended him. You obviously have to be careful. The SEC blew it. The Justice Department did not blow it. They deserve a lot of support and praise for what they did. In three months they put this guy behind bars for life. I lost a good chunk of my net worth [and I'm] unlikely to regain that. I probably will have to work longer but I don't consider work a four-letter word. I have to figure out what I'm going to do."


3. DeWitt Baker, 84

Occupation: Retired book publisher
Relationship to Madoff: Says he invested with Madoff since December 1994

"[My wife and I] don't know how much we really lost...[but it was] in the millions. Any discretionary money is gone...All the [regulations] that I saw as a young kid going through school that were put in during the '30s to keep this from happening have gone away. Congress doesn't fund the SEC enough. They don't have enough investigators. We'll live on our income stream. There is nothing [left] to protect. Fourteen years is a long time [to invest with someone] and you find you get very comfortable."

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5. Miriam Siegman, 65

Occupation: Retired, consultant for nonprofit human rights association
Relationship to Madoff: Says she's been investing with Madoff since 1992

"The fact that he'll be in prison doesn't help either the victims nor does it prevent future catastrophes. I've lost everything...and it was millions... [My trust in the SEC] was never very great to begin with. But the government agencies in this case from the early '70s failed. This is total failure. Banking committees, financing committees in Congress, Sen. Schumer, Sen. Lautenberg -- all of them failed. I had retired. You know what the job market is like...Money I earn from here on won't need to be protected. It will be spent on food."

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7. Jason Bocchinfuso, 25

Occupation: Security officer
Relationship to Madoff: Says he has no relationship to Madoff.

"He really messed things up for everybody in this country. The guy is going to get what he deserves, but really at 70 years old, how much is he really going to serve? The faith in our nation is shattered. If this is going on with these guys that we're supposed to...trust...how could anybody want to invest in anything? I'm a young guy and I'm just starting out. It's really shattered me and my entire generation to be honest. If this was a blue-collar crime, the book would have been thrown at him. I think he's going to get a country club treatment and I bet he'll end up [with] a Martha Stewart-type deal. "