Madoff Accountant Is Arrested

Federal authorities have arrested Paul J. Konigsberg, a longtime accountant in Bernard L. Madoff’s inner circle, at 6 a.m. on Thursday according to the New York Times. The arrest is related to their criminal investigation of Mr. Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Mr. Konigsberg prepared tax returns for two family foundations and served as an accountant for dozens of families who invested with the firm. He was the only nonfamily shareholder in Mr. Madoff’s London operation, which played a critical role in transferring money around the globe.

Paul Konigsberg, a 77-year-old accountant, is a founding partner of Konigsberg Wolf & Company, a New York accounting firm that is now closed. He is the second outside accountant criminally charged in the Madoff case. David G. Friehling, the longtime independent accountant for the Madoff firm, pleaded guilty in 2009.

Mr. Madoff was detained on Dec. 11, 2008 and is serving a 150-year prison sentence. He has claimed that he acted alone. Cash losses from the Ponzi scheme are estimated at about $17.5 billion, but more than $64 billion paper wealth was wiped out.