Madoff's net snared SEC official's family members

NEW YORK: Family members of a US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement official, whose unit got a tip in 2005 that Bernard Madoff may be running a Ponzi scheme, entrusted $2 million to the scam, the agency's watchdog said.

The anonymous e-mailed tip to the Office of Internet Enforcement was among at least six "substantive complaints" the SEC didn't fully investigate during 16 years, Inspector General H. David Kotz said in a report released before he testifies before the Senate.

Investments by two of the official's relatives were disclosed as a footnote in the 457- page report, which doesn't identify him or specify losses. He wasn't part of any Madoff probe, Kotz noted.