Two New York investors are suing the Securities and Exchange Commission for negligence for not catching Bernard Madoff's $65 billion fraud scheme earlier.

Phyllis Molchatsky, who lost $1.7 million of her retirement savings, and Steven Schneider, who lost $750,000, filed papers in court that said, "the SEC must be held accountable and responsible for its own negligent actions and inactions that directly and proximately caused the loss of billions of investor funds."

In March, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 counts of fraud and was sentenced to a 150-year jail term.

An SEC inspector general looking into the case said the regulator had missed at least six opportunities to investigate Madoff and shut down the Ponzi scheme that had run for decades by the time of Madoff's arrest in December.

The SEC did not comment on the lawsuits, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

"On a micro level, we're looking for redress for our clients. On a bigger-picture level, we're looking for the government to be held accountable, just as it holds its citizens and financial institutions accountable," said Howard Elisofon, a former SEC enforcement attorney who now works with law firm Herrick, Feinstein.