David Friehling, Madoff Accountant, Turns Himself In

David Friehling, of the firm Friehling & Horowitz, faces six counts of securities fraud, aiding and abetting investment-adviser fraud, and filing false audit reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He turned himself in Wednesday morning.

One has to wonder how an auditor would miss what was going on, after all.

If convicted, David Friehling, 49, could face a sentence of up to 105 years. Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin, in a prepared statement, said:

"Mr. Friehling is charged with crimes that represent a serious breach of the investing public's trust. 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. Mr. Friehling's deception helped foster the illusion that Mr. Madoff legitimately invested his clients' money."

Prosecutors said he made between $12,000 and $14,500 a month from 2004 to '07, which, upon doing the math, would amount to $144,000 to $174,000 a year.

David Friehling is the first person, beyond Bernie Madoff, to be charged in the Ponzi scheme case which took down the famous and wealthy, as well as the common man.

Friehling previously partnered at his firm with Jeremy Horowitz, his father-in-law, who died of cancer at the age of 80 last Thursday, ironically the same day that Madoff pleaded guilty.