Inspectors seldom got suspicious, however, because they liked and trusted him.He had not spent a third of his time in Washington in the late 1980s and early 1990s, cosying up to the Securities and Exchange Commission, for nothing.In 1992 the SEC found out that two accountants from his father-in-law’s firm had channelled $440m to him since 1962, offering clients annual returns of up to 20%,but not registering the notes they issued with the sec as the law required.He returned the money (taking it from one of his largest investor’s accounts), and the regulators left him alone.Sometimes they even asked his advice on market operations.So when the financial press in the early 2000s began to smell something rotten in his secret system, regulators still trusted him entirely.Five inspections brought up nothing alarming.It took the financial meltdown of 2008 to expose him.Suddenly he had more than $12bn to find for investors withdrawing their funds in panic, and he could not cover it.In December he confessed to his two sons, who worked for him, that it was all just one big lie.Then, while he took the staff out for a party at a Mexican restaurant, the family lawyer called the regulators in.