Eric Swanson joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1996 as an attorney and advanced to Assistant Director in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) in 2005. He participated in at least four examinations of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC—in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007—each concluding without detecting the firm's Ponzi scheme, which defrauded investors of approximately $65 billion. Between the summer of 2004 and early 2008, Swanson was in a romantic relationship with Shana Madoff, niece of Bernie Madoff and a compliance director at the firm. The relationship began shortly after the 2003 SEC inspection and continued through subsequent reviews, during which Swanson did not recuse himself. Critics, including watchdog groups like Judicial Watch and former SEC officials, accused him of a conflict of interest that may have contributed to regulatory failures (allegations unproven in court). The SEC Office of Inspector General investigated Swanson's role, finding no intentional misconduct or criminality but faulting him for poor judgment in not disclosing the relationship to supervisors. Swanson resigned from the SEC on March 20, 2009, amid the scandal's fallout, and later joined Cornerstone Research in 2010 as a managing director, consulting on securities litigation and regulatory enforcement.