Two New Films, One Old Scheme

AUTHOR'S POST

Mandy Moody
ACFE Social Media Specialist

Tuesday, the Huffington Post released the trailer for the new documentary, "Chasing Madoff," starring whistleblower and CFE, Harry Markopolos. Even though I wasn’t working for the ACFE when Bernie Madoff turned himself in and the Wall Street Journal (finally) exposed Harry’s decade-long investigation, many of my coworkers were. In fact, several ACFE staff members were present for the tail-end of Harry’s journey and have continued to “listen,” support and honor a fraud fighter who brought new meaning to the phrase “going above and beyond.”

“Chasing Madoff,” based on Harry’s book, No One Would Listen, details the discovery, the investigation, the initial SEC filing, a second SEC filing, one more SEC filing, a scathing Barron’s expose, and, finally, the conviction and sentencing of the biggest Ponzi scheme to date. You can look for it in select theaters Aug. 26.

Fellow Ponzi schemer Marc Dreier will have to share the limelight once again with Madoff. The documentary, “Unraveled,” was shown this month at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival. Director Marc Simon, a a former employee of Dreier’s who lost his job (yeah, I reread that, too), films the former attorney and philanthropist for 60 days. The arbitrary number was not chosen for cinematic reasons, but rather ordered by a court. Simon decided to film Drier during the 60-day house-arrest period he served while awaiting sentencing.

“Unraveled” focuses more on the fraudster; his motives, greed and scam. Harry’s movie is almost solely focused on the fraud fighters, the good guys, which attempted to take down Madoff and save a lot of heartache and money. Oh yeah, did I mention Harry is a CFE?

I’m anxious to see both films and will definitely report back later. Let me know any thoughts below.