Congress' Government Accountability Office, in a report released Monday, said the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken in more than $4.8 billion in civil fines and restitution in settlements with companies and individuals during that period. However, the SEC has distributed to the entitled shareholders only about $60 million from three of the 75 cases in question, the report found.

Under the landmark anti-fraud law enacted in response to the corporate scandals of 2002, the money is mandated to go to the Federal Account for Investor Restitution, known as the Fair Fund. The agency does not earn interest from the fund.

"I am deeply troubled by the difficulties the (SEC) has encountered in expeditiously returning these funds to American investors," said Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., who released the report along with Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. "While the Fair Fund may never be a substitute for private litigation, the SEC needs to find ways to turn the Fair Fund into a more effective mechanism for returning funds to wronged investors, given the limitations of the law and the difficulties of identifying those injured by securities fraud.

The GAO report found that the SEC has faced difficulties in identifying injured investors and returning money to them, especially in cases involving fraud by public companies. It is generally easier to identify harmed investors in cases involving brokerage firms, the auditors noted.

SEC Enforcement Director Linda Thomsen told the GAO auditors in a letter that the agency is developing a system to better monitor and manage the money to be distributed to investors.

-- Marcy Gordon