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According to the authors, "Federal watchdogs have been largely ineffective in combating securities fraud and helping victims recover their money. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's investigation of all 121 cases filed in the Southeastern U.S. by the Securities and Exchange Commission's Miami office during the past five years also found that 25 percent of violators had been the subject of at least one previous regulatory or criminal action involving fraud or economic crime; only 20 percent of the agency's cases against violators resulted in criminal prosecutions; and SEC violations resulted in $176 million in fines and penalties being levied, although only about $6.5 million has been collected. Investors losses in these securities fraud cases totalled at least $938 million."