On May 7, 2001, Barron's published her article "Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Bernie Madoff Attracts Skeptics in 2001".[1] This was only the second investigative article, following closely on Michael Ocrant's May 1, 2001 article in industry publication MARHedge, to question Bernard Madoff's scheme, his demand for investor secrecy and his "enviably steady gains".
When the SEC finally investigated Madoff, after the December 2008 failure of his multi-billion dollar scheme, its Exhibit 104 belatedly mentions the Ocrant and Arvedlund articles:
"Madoff said that when the MarHedge and Barron's [sic] articles came out, he expected the SEC to come to him, and that he was surprised the SEC didn't follow up with him. He also mentioned that Erin Arvedlund ("That idiot woman from Barron's.") didn't know what she was talking about, and that it was obvious she was not familiar with the industry."[2]
Arvedlund's first book, Too Good to be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff, was published in August, 2009.[5] This was followed, in June, 2010, by The Club No One Wanted to Join - Madoff Victims in Their Own Words, which she edited from the stories told by Madoff's victims.[6] Arvedlund also wrote a book on the Libor scandal, Open Secret: The Global Banking Conspiracy That Swindled Investors Out of Billions, published in September, 2014, covering how the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), a primary benchmark for short-term interest rates around the world, had been manipulated by major banks across the world.[7]
