WASHINGTON (AP) &<51; The watchdog of the Securities and Exchange Commission has found that three agency exams and two investigations of Bernard Madoff&S217;s business were incompetent, despite ample warnings of the multibillion-dollar fraud.

But the report by the S.E.C. inspector general, David Kotz, report found no evidence of any improper ties between agency officials and Mr. Madoff.

Despite speculation that senior S.E.C officials may have tried to influence the investigations, a summary of Mr. Kotz&S217;s report released Wednesday also found no evidence of that.

The S.E.C. enforcement staff, conducting investigations of Mr. Madoff&S217;s business, &S221;almost immediately caught (him) in lies and misrepresentations, but failed to follow up on inconsistencies&S221; and rejected whistleblowers&S217; offers to provide additional evidence, the report says.

Revelations in December of the agency&S217;s failure to uncover Mr. Madoff&S217;s massive Ponzi scheme over a decade touched off one of the most painful scandals in the agency&S217;s 75-year history.

Between June 1992 and last December, when Mr. Madoff confessed, the S.E.C. received six &S220;substantive complaints that raised significant red flags&S221; regarding Mr. Madoff&S217;s operations. But &S221;a thorough and competent investigation or examination was never performed,&S221; the report says.

Many of the S.E.C. staff who conducted the investigations were &S220;inexperienced,&S221; according to the report.

In a statement, the chairman of the S.E.C., Mary L. Schapiro, said the agency had been reviewing its practices and procedures, and that changes &S220;made since January will help the agency better detect fraud quick payday loan.&S221;

It cites examinations of Mr. Madoff&S217;s business done in 2004 and 2005 by the agency&S217;s inspections office. In both exams, the staff &S221;made the surprising discovery&S221; that Mr. Madoff&S217;s mysterious investment business was making far more money than his well-known wholesale brokerage operation. &S220;However, no one identified this revelation as a cause for concern,&S221; the report says.

Even more surprising, the two exams were being conducted at the same time in different S.E.C. offices without either location being aware of the other&S217;s action. It was Mr. Madoff himself who told one of the inspection teams that he&S217;d already given the information they sought to the other team, according to the report.

Mr. Madoff pleaded guilty in March. He is serving 150 years in federal prison in North Carolina for a pyramid scheme that destroyed thousands of people&S217;s life savings, wrecked charities and gave already-rattled confidence in the financial system another jolt. The legions of investors who lost money included ordinary people, Hollywood celebrities and scores of famous names in business and sports &<51; as well as big hedge funds, international banks and charitable foundations in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Report Says S.E.C. Fumbled Madoff Investigation