Three former associates of Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff who later cooperated with prosecutors to help convict their former boss avoided jail time in their sentences in Federal Court last week, according to published reports.
On Thursday, David Friehling, a former accountant employed by Madoff, received one year of home confinement, while Craig Kugel, who worked in human resources at Madoff’s firm, will serve two years of supervised release.
Their sentences came a day after Kugel’s father, David Kugel, who testified he helped Madoff create false trading records dating as far back as the 1970s, received 10 months of home confinement.
The three men were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Friehling, 55, of New City, who pleaded guilty to fraud in 2009, claimed he was unaware of Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme but said he knowingly used falsified records in handling Madoff’s taxes for 17 years, according to a CBS News report.
According to the report, prior to his sentencing, Friehling apologized to investors of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC whose life savings were lost by the firm, saying, “I will regret for the rest of my life the role I played in this devastating crime.”
Last year, Friehling testified against five Madoff insiders who were later found guilty of participating in the scheme, according to CBS.
Craig Kugel, 41, of Port Washington, pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges of tax fraud and falsified statements, admitting he enrolled people into the firm’s health-care plans who were not employees and used company credit cards for his personal expenses, according to Newsday.
Madoff, a former resident of Roslyn, is currently serving a 150-year sentence for running what is considered one of the largest Ponzi Schemes in history, bilking about 4,800 investors out of approximately $64.8 billion.
