Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff’s longtime auditor is expected to plead guilty to securities fraud and other charges that could leave him behind bars for years.

Prosecutors say David Friehling would have known that Madoff was carrying out history’s greatest Ponzi scheme — because he kept the books.
 
Friehling was scheduled for a Manhattan federal court appearance on Tuesday.

Prosecutors have said they expect Friehling to plead guilty to charges that are punishable by up to 108 years in prison. However, substantial cooperation can result in leniency.

Meanwhile, a document released Oct. 30 details a prison interview conducted June 17 by the SEC inspector general in which Madoff says he had the impression that “it never entered the SEC’s mind that it was a Ponzi scheme.”

Madoff seemed convinced SEC staff did not suspect him, despite the agency’s numerous probes of his business. He said in the interview that the SEC examiners “never asked” for basic records to corroborate his operations.

The disgraced financier also confided that he didn’t bring an attorney with him when he testified in an inquiry by the SEC’s enforcement division because he believed he didn’t need one — and he was trying to fool the government investigators into thinking he had nothing to hide.

(Source: WCBSTV)