CHASING MADOFF – The Review

Most of the world was rightly stunned and horrified when the actions of investor Bernard Madoff became public. The terrific new documentary by Jeff Prosserman, CHASING MADOFF based on the book by Harry Markopolos, reminds us that not all the billions of dollars that Madoff swindled came from faceless firms and corporations-real human beings lost their life savings. And the real tragedy is that he could have been stopped nearly ten years before he was arrested. Aspects of this true story could not have been dreamed up by the most imaginative screenwriter.

The real focus of this work is Harry Markopolos. In the late nineties he was part of the Rampart investment firm of Boston. His boss, Frank Casey, wanted to attract the clients of a noted French businessman, Rene’-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet. Magon said he only invested with an individual he would not name. Some research revealed that Investor B was Bernard Madoff. Markoplos looked at the figures on the returns on the investments and several red flags went up. It was too good to be true. His co-worker, Neil Chelo, checked the numbers and came to the same conclusion. The rest of the film concerns Maropolos’s decade long odyssey trying to get someone to listen and stop Madoff’s new use of the old “Ponzi” scheme. They enlist the aid of a financial reporter whose stories are blocked. Another from The Wall Street Journal continues to be reassigned. Reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission are ignored. Eventually  Markopolos resigns from Rampart to join a fraud investigating firm and works with Gaytri Kachroo, but still no authorities will listen. Markopolos begins to fear for his family and takes precautions, including arming himself, against any hired ” hit men”. Would doing the right thing get them killed?

Prosserman uses many familiar documentary techniques in telling this complex story. Markopolos and his allies are interviewed talking head-style against dark backgrounds. Archival footage is used to explain the origins of the “Ponzi” scheme. Many quick-cut graphic images are used to relate this including charts, an octopus, and a balloon supported by hundreds of tiny ones. Madoff himself is only represented by video of him at a sales talk, taped telephone conversations, and finally news footage ‘perp’ walks. The only time Prosserman really stumbles is when he has Markopolos and other non-actors recreating incidents-it’s a bit clumsy. This doesn’t take away from the tragedy. Many brief interviews with individual victims are spread through the film. The viewer is left with some many “if only” scenarios. How could the government watchdogs be sound asleep for so long? As Markopolos himself puts it, “I felt like ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf” except I was never lying! The wolf was always there!”. That wolf may be behind bars now, but think of how long he was allowed to feast.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars