parallels…

Posted on Friday 17 April 2009


NEW YORK (Reuters) – The criminal investigation of an accountant accused of rubber-stamping the books of jailed swindler Bernard Madoff was extended on Friday for one month pending an indictment, further charges, or a plea, according to court papers. The accountant, David Friehling, who ran a small storefront firm in a suburb of New York, is the only person other than Madoff to be criminally charged in the biggest investment scam in Wall Street history.

"The government has requested a continuance of 30 days to engage in further discussions with counsel about the disposition of this case," the order in Manhattan federal court said. It said Friehling and his lawyer had consented to the continuance, which is typical in such cases. The government has until approximately May 17 to file further charges against Friehling. He could also be indicted by a grand jury or agree to plead guilty to certain charges.

Friehling is out on $2.5 million personal recognizance bond secured by four properties. His travel is restricted and he surrendered his passport. He was charged with fraud on March 18 after authorities said his audits of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC were a pretense. He was not charged with direct knowledge of the scheme in which prosecutors said drew in $65 billion over 20 years. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also filed civil charges against Friehling.

The accountant faces a maximum of 105 years in prison on the criminal charges, including securities fraud, aiding and abetting investment adviser fraud and false audit reports…
There’s an odd parallel between the Madoff Scandal and the "Bush" torture scandal. It’s a question about the little guys. Should we prosecute the torturers? the Lawyers? the Accountants? They are much more vulnerable than the big guys [at least in the case of the Bush White House]. There’s a temptation to go after the main men like Madoff, and not to focus on the lesser sinners, like his lazy [and probably complicit] Accountant? Do we go after the torturers [who were just following orders]? Do we go after John Yoo and friends? The lesson of the Nurenberg trials says that the underlings have as much responsibility as the overlords.

But there’s another disquieting parallel. Isn’t going after the underlings exactly what the Bush Administration did at Guantanamo? They tortured the little guys, probably out of frustration that they couldn’t get the big fellows [and justified it with hyperbole]. Would we be doing the same thing? Taking out our frustration on the C.I.A. torturers, or the misguided DoJ Lawyers, or the lackluster Accountant? Justifying it by saying "it’s a deterrent for the future" [the Nurenberg logic]. A weighty matter, this one…
  1.  
    April 20, 2009 | 4:43 AM
     

    Thank you very much for sharing this information I read this complete article. I think you should contact any good investigative agency

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.