As an accountant for the lesser known accounting firm Friehling & Horowitz, David G. Friehling approved most of Madoff's fraudulent filings with the IRS between 1991 and 2008. His firm attracted negative attention and suspicion long before the breaking of the Madoff scandal due to its small size in comparison to the multi-billion-dollar venture that was BLMIS. Shortly following Madoff's arrest, it was discovered that Friehling & Horowitz had notified the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as early as 1993 that the firm did not conduct audits. Friehling however would rubberstamp Madoff's audits to the bitter end of the firm and his own arrest in 2009. In April of that year, he was charged with securities fraud, aiding and abetting investment adviser fraud, and four accounts of accounting fraud with the SEC. While Friehling originally plead not guilty, he eventually plead guilty in November of 2009 forfeiting $3.18 million in accounting fees. While he originally faced 114 years in federal prison, Friehling's cooperation with federal authorities as well as the continual pushing back of his sentencing reduced his term to one year of home detention and one year supervised release back in 2015. He can no longer practice accounting and still faces a potential $130 million in forfeitures despite the likelihood of this amount ever being paid in full.
