George S. May Business Blog

David Friehling, Madoff accountant, to face 105 years in prison

David Friehling, accountant to the infamous Bernard Madoff, turned himself in to authorities Wednesday morning. This came as a response to charges that David Friehling signed off on falsified numbers, in Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme and then lied about it to the Feds.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, David Friehling has been charged with securities fraud, aiding and abetting investment adviser fraud and four counts of filing false audit reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These charges are quite serious, as, if he is convicted on all charges, David Friehling faces a sentence of up to 105 years

“Mr. Friehling is charged with crimes that represent a serious breach of the investing public’s trust,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin, in a prepared statement.

“Although Mr. Friehling is not charged with knowledge of the Madoff Ponzi scheme, he is charged with deceiving investors by falsely certifying that he audited the financial statements of Mr. Madoff’s business,” said Dassin. “Mr. Friehling’s deception helped foster the illusion that Mr. Madoff legitimately invested his clients’ money.”

Prosecutors maintain that David Friehling received somewhere between $12,000 to $14,500, from Madoff’s firm, for his services.

Andrew Lankler, David Friehling’s attorney, would not provide any comments on the situation.

David Friehling, along with serving as an accountant for Madoff, was also an investor in the firm. Prosecuters have identified an account of David Friehling that had somewhere in the neighborhood of $500k.

David Friehling is the first person after Madoff charged with having some connection to the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme.

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