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Ex-Madoff Accountant Paul Konigsberg Arrested

Ex-Madoff Accountant Arrested
Reuters
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UNITED STATES - MARCH 10: Bernard Madoff leaves Manhattan Federal court after a hearing there Tusday afternoon. The bulletproof vest Bernie Madoff wore under his fine suit could not shield him from barrage of charges, which should ensure he spends rest of his life behind bars for greatest swindle. (Photo by Craig Warga/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

Sept 26 (Reuters) - A former accountant for Bernard Madoff was arrested on Thursday, nearly five years after the imprisoned swindler's huge Ponzi scheme was uncovered, an FBI spokesman said.

Paul Konigsberg, the accountant, had helped Madoff open an office in London during the 1980s, and was also a former senior partner at Konigsberg Wolf & Co.

Reed Brodsky, a lawyer for Konigsberg, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Brodsky told The New York Times, which earlier reported the arrest, that his 77-year-old client was an "innocent victim" of Madoff's fraud who looked forward to clearing his name at trial.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in New York, where Madoff's firm was based, declined to comment.

Madoff was arrested on Dec. 12, 2008 for running a Ponzi scheme at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC over several decades and is serving a 150-year prison sentence.

Several others charged in the scandal have pleaded guilty.

Five former employees of Madoff's firm who prosecutors said aided the fraud have pleaded not guilty, and are scheduled to go to trial in federal court in New York on Oct. 7.

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Before You Go

10 Bankers Behind Bars
Bernie Madoff(01 of10)
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In what is now considered to be one of the biggest and most famous Ponzi schemes in history, Madoff laundered about $65 billion, Forbes reports. Madoff defrauded thousands of investors, all of whom can be found on a 163-page list. (credit:AP)
Rajat Gupta(02 of10)
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Ex-Goldman Rajat Gupta was sentenced to two years in prison for participating in one of the largest insider trading schemes in history. (credit:Getty Images)
Jerome Kerviel(03 of10)
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Kerviel was found guilty of one of the world's most colosal trading frauds in 2010. He cost France's Société Générale bank 4.9 billion Euros. He was sentenced to 3 years in jail and was also sentenced to paying a $7 billion fine, The Guardian reports. (credit:AP)
Steven Goldberg, Peter Grimm and Dominick Carollo(04 of10)
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Goldberg, Grimm and Carollo were found guilty of conning the I.R.S. and cities in a "bid-rigging scheme" during their time at General Electric, Businessweek reports.Goldberg was sentenced to four years in prison. Grimm and Carollo were each sentenced to three years. (credit:AP)
Raj Rajaratnam(05 of10)
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Raj Rajaratnam, the former head of Galleon Management, was sentenced to 11 years in jail in October 2011, the longest prison term for insider trading to date, The Washington Post reports. (credit:AP)
Nick Leeson(06 of10)
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During Nick Lesson's time at Bristain's Barings Bank, he lost 862 million pounds and even managed to level the 233-year-old bank itself, according to The Telegraph. He served four years in a Singapore jail before he was released early with life-threatening cancer. (credit:Getty Images)
Allen Stanford(07 of10)
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Currently serving 110 years in prison, Allen Stanford was, at one time, one of the richest men in America, according to CNBC. He conned about 20,000 investors out of their money in a Ponzi scheme. (credit:AP)
Garth Peterson(08 of10)
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Garth Peterson, the former head of Morgan Stanley's Chinese real-estate investments unit, was sentenced to 9 months in jail last August for bribery, according to The Wall Street Journal. (credit:AP)
Bradley Birkenfeld(09 of10)
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Bradley Birkenfeld spent more than 2 years in jail for assisting in income tax evasion while working at UBS. He then volunteered inside information on Swiss banking to the I.R.S., and was rewarded with $104 million for being a whistle-blower, according to The New York Times. (credit:AP)
Don Of Thieves(10 of10)
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Dennis Levine, Martin Siegel, Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken defrauded Wall Street investors in the 1980's. In a scandalous series of events, Levine stole confidential documents from Lazard Freres investment bank, and the crew made use of inside information, according to The Daily Beast. (credit:Getty Images)
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