Washington: The heavy toll of the Bernard Madoff scandal is being brought before Congress today as a House panel tries to determine how, despite warnings over a decade to US regulators, Madoff continued to operate his alleged pyramid scheme.

"I am a human face on this tragedy," says Allan Goldstein, a retired New York textile distributor.

Goldstein says he lost his entire life savings with Madoff and had to cash in his life insurance policies to cover his mortgage. He will testify to the House Financial Services Committee in the first congressional hearing on the Madoff scandal.

"Everything I worked for over a 50-year career is gone," Goldstein said in an e-mail message from his attorney's firm. He said he had no reason to question the steady returns of 8 per cent to 12 per cent a year that Madoff's firm told him he was earning.

The Securities Investor Protection Corp and the trustee handling the liquidation of Madoff's firm said today they mailed more than 8,000 claim forms to customers on Friday. Besides individuals, others who lost money were big hedge funds, international banks and charities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission received complaints about Madoff's investment methods going back to at least 1999. The House committee is questioning the SEC s internal watchdog, as lawmakers try to learn why regulatory agency failed to detect the alleged investment fraud.

Madoff's alleged pyramid scheme will be a case study for a planned overhaul of laws regulating financial markets, said Rep Paul Kanjorski, a Democrat, who is presiding at the hearing.

Source : PTI