Former Madoff Accountant Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Paul Konigsberg, Bernard Madoff’s former accountant, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to aiding in Madoff’s $17 billion fraud, Reuters reports. Konigsberg, a former senior tax partner at Konigsberg Wolf & Co, admitted to one count of conspiracy and two counts of falsifying the records of a broker-dealer.

The 78-year-old accountant said that he and employees at Madoff’s firm manipulated customer account statements and filed tax returns based on the manipulated statements, but maintained that he wasn’t aware that Madoff’s entire business was a fraudulent operation. Konigsberg now faces up to 20 years in prison.

Konigsberg is the 15th person to be convicted in connection with Madoff’s fraud. In March, a federal jury convicted five of Madoff’s former aides on charges of fraud and conspiracy.

Madoff, 76, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2009 to the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

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