Bernard Madoff's long-time accountant was arrested on fraud charges Wednesday and accused of helping the disgraced money manager cheat thousands of investors out of billions of dollars in the past two decades. The charges against David Friehling, 49, come as federal authorities turn their attention to people they believe helped Madoff fool 4,800 investors into thinking that their investments were growing comfortably each year. Friehling is the first person to be arrested since the Madoff scandal broke three months ago.
Friehling ran an accounting office in a nondescript suburban building north of New York City, and quickly drew scrutiny over how he could have not detected the fraud. Experts in accounting also said it would be preposterous for such a tiny firm to properly audit an operation the size of Madoff's.