Madoff Auditor Pleads Guilty to Multiple Fraud Counts

Nov 9th, 2009 • Posted in: News

In related news, Madoff — in prison interview — says SEC never questioned why his multibillion-dollar firm was audited by a tiny firm

NEW YORK
The auditor who rubber-stamped the books of confessed swindler Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud last week, but maintained he was unaware that Madoff was conducting a Ponzi scheme.

David Friehling agreed to a nine-count plea that includes charges of securities fraud, false filings, and tax law violations, CNN reports.

The plea was part of a cooperation deal with the government, according to CBS News.

Sentencing is scheduled for late February. Friehling could face more than 100 years in prison, but his cooperation is likely to mitigate against such a harsh sentence, according to ABC News.

Friehling said he did not independently investigate the assets Madoff claimed or perform any of the other responsibilities of an auditor, ABC reports. But he claimed that he was not aware that Madoff was engineering a Ponzi scheme.

Friehling also claims he and his family lost all of their savings by investing in Madoff’s schemes.

In related news, the Scotsman reports that the transcript of a recently released prison interview quotes Madoff as saying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission never asked why the books were audited by the tiny accounting firm headed by David Friehling.

Sources: ABC News, Nov. 6 – CBS News, Nov. 6 – CNN, Nov. 5 – Scotsman, Nov. 1.

For more information, see: Related Newsline Commentary, July 6 — Related Newsline story, June 29 — Related Newsline story, June 29 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 27 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 23.

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