Madoff tipster Harry Markopolos assails SEC

WASHINGTON - The Massachusetts man who waged a decade-long campaign to alert regulators to problems in the operations of fallen money manager Bernard Madoff says he feared for his physical safety.

Harry Markopolos also assailed the Securities and Exchange Commission in his first appearance before Congress. The SEC failed to act despite receiving credible allegations of fraud from Markopolos about Madoff's operations over a decade.

Markopolos told a House hearing that "the SEC is ... captive to the industry it regulates and is afraid" to bring big cases against prominent individuals.

He says the agency "roars like a lion and bites like a flea."

Madoff was arrested in December after allegedly confessing to bilking investors of more than $50 billion.

To read a recent Globe story about Markopolos, please click here. To read a story in today's Globe about Markopolos, please click here. (AP)