Auditors facing over 100 years in prison should take note: Madoff auditor David Friehling to […]
Tag: David Friehling
Madoff Accountant’s 5-Year-Old Kid Was Not a Very Good Investor, Therefore He Invested in Madoff
Bernie Madoff's "outside auditor" (popularly known as his "accountant") David Friehling already pleaded guilty to […]
NASBA Tool Easily Allows You To Verify If Your Colleague Is a Liar
Up until now, the easiest way to verify a CPA license was to check with […]
Terrible Auditor Really Good at Staying Out of Jail
Bernie Madoff’s auditor – and thereby, the worst auditor ever – David Friehling has had his sentencing delayed for the fourth time.
Apparently he is still “cooperating with federal investigators” which leads some to believe that he might be giving them the lowdown on the Madoffs’ tax returns but really he probably is just trying to convince someone – ANYONE – to give back his beloved CPA. [Lohud via Forbes]
Is Madoff’s Auditor Spilling His Guts?
Maybe! David Friehling was supposed to be sentenced last week but apparently it got pushed back again.
On November 3, 2009 Friehling pleaded guilty to various charges ranging from securities fraud to filing false reports to the SEC. He was to be sentenced for these crimes in February 2010 but because of his cooperation with the government, that was postponed until September 2010….that was then postponed until March 15, 2011….now that has been postponed until September 16, 2011. […] So what does a guy know who claims he did not know a lot? Is Friehling working with the Feds and Irving Picard (Madoff Trustee) on strong-arming Mets’ owners Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon? I doubt it. Can Friehling put a finger on one of the Bernard Madoff family members, who have yet to be charged criminally? Maybe.
Of course this could mean that Friehling also knows the location Jimmy Hoffa, the true identities of the participants in the Kenneday assassination and the Coke formula. Oh wait, everyone knows that one now. ANYWAY, the investigators may just be enjoying the anecdotes and would hate to see the poor guy shipped upstate. But most likely, he’s trying to save his ass from a sentence in FPMITAP like his #1 client received.
Giving Friehling the benefit of the doubt, he is cooperating to do the right thing now but he is also trying to get his sentence reduced in the process. With a fraud so large, I do not see how the Federal Sentencing Guidelines keep this guy in prison for less than 20 years.
Madoff Accountant — Now Auditing To Save His A#$ [Forbes/Walter Pavlo]
Bernie Madoff’s Former CPA Is No Longer a CPA
In a formality that serves as the proverbial cherry to achieving his “Worst Auditor Ever” status, David Friehling was officially stripped of his CPA by the New York Department of Education.
The Office of Professional Discipline voted on July 19th to take away the most coveted letters in the accounting profession from the convicted “auditor.” LoHud quotes part of the decision issued by the state, “When each opinion was issued (Friehling) knew that no audit or any examination had been conducted of said financial statements.”
Obviously the OPD made the right decision here but it begs the question: what the hell took so long? Call us impatient or simply devoid of tolerance for a slow moving bureaucracy but it’s not like this one was a toss-up. Do these Professional Discipline folks only meet semi-annually? Were the waiting out the possibility of SCOTUS overruling the conviction a la Andersen?
But never mind that. Friehling has to be devastated with this latest setback. All that studying for nothing! He took the written CPA exam, people. Some of you are familiar with that particular bit of torture but for you younger CPAs, believe us when we tell you that it’s no picnic.
Plus, that CPA jail-tattoo he was looking forward to getting on his neck simply won’t have the same meaning.
Bernard Madoff’s New City accountant loses CPA license [LoHud]
Accounting News Roundup: Rangel Chastised by Ethics Panel; Settlement Reached for Ex-Deloitte Exec on Insider Trading Charges; Madoff Auditor Sentencing Delayed | 02.26.10
• Panel Admonishes Rangel for Taking Trips as Gifts [NYT]
Charlie Rangel had a Congressional ethics committee rule that he “violated gift rules” when he accepted corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean. While that is certainly bad news for Rangs, the committee is far from finished with its investigation as they continue their inquiries about Chuck’s “fund-raising, his failure to pay federal taxes on rental income from a Dominican villa, and his use of four rent-stabilized apartments provided by a Manhattan real estate developer.”
Following typical political grandstanding protocol, Republicans are calling for CR to step down from his post as the Chairman of the House Ways & Means Comittee:
“In this time of great economic uncertainty, struggling middle-class Americans deserve better than to have a tax cheat chairing a powerful Congressional committee that directly impacts the financial livelihoods of millions of hard-working people,” said Ken Spain, the communications director of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
• Ex-Deloitte Exec Settles Insider Trading Charges [Web CPA]
John A. Foley, who “settle[d] the SEC’s charges without admitting or denying the allegations”, was trading on inside information on a number of Deloitte clients including rubber shoe factory Crocs, along with YRC Worldwide, Inc., Spectralink Corporation and SigmaTel, Inc.
The trades yielded Foely and his fellow cheaters just over $200k which would buy a helluva lot of ugly shoes.
• Madoff’s New City accountant’s sentencing put off until September [LoHud]
David Friehling, the worst auditor ever, was scheduled to be sentenced today for his little part in the Madoff Ponzi scheme has been delayed until September. Friehling’s continued cooperation was the reason for the delay in sentencing. Although he faces over 100 years in prison, Judge Alvin Hellerstein told DF that his cooperation will be noted when final sentencing is determined. Presumably, that will knock it down to well under a century of doing time.
Madoff Auditor Pleads Guilty, Solidifies ‘Worst Auditor Ever’ Status
That’s not an official title but if you’ve got suggestions for someone else, please, enlighten us.
He told the court that he did not conduct any independent auditing or verification of financial statements or tax returns provided by Madoff and “others” at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in New York.
Friehling did not state who the ‘others’ were but the U.S. Attorney hinted that we’ll get to know sometime. For now, Friehling is a free man, out on $2.5 million bond until his sentencing which is tentatively set for February.
He faces up to 114 years in prison but similar to Madoff’s chief bald-faced liar, Frank DiPascali, his cooperation should result in a lighter sentence. And by lighter we’re guessing that means he’ll still leave prison horizontally.