Madoff Accountant Pleads Guillty to Fraud
The New York Times reports that Bernard. Madoff’s longtime accountant pleaded guilty to three counts of obstructing the administration of the federal tax laws carrying a prison sentence of up to 114 years . The accountant, David G. Friehling, admitted that for nearly 20 years he had "rubber-stamped" audits that allowed Madoff to conceal his Ponzi scheme from regulators. Friehling essentially conceded that he had never properly conducted an independent audit of the Madoff operation. Despite this lack of independence, he produced the purported independent audits that helped to enable the Madoff scheme for several years. Friehling also acknowledged that he had prepared tax returns for Madoff and "others," who remained unnamed. Legal experts suggest that the "others" are Madoff family members, who may be the next targets of the government's continuing investigation.
