Paul Konigsberg is going with the guilty but ignorant and terrible at accounting defense:
A longtime former accountant to Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to falsifying records and other charges in connection with the convicted financier's Ponzi scheme.
"I'm here today to take responsibility for what I did that was wrong," Paul Konigsberg, a former partner at Konigsberg Wolf & Co., told a federal court in Manhattan.
But he was adamant that he was unaware of the Ponzi scheme. "It is important for me, your honor, to let you know that I was not aware of Madoff's horrific and evil Ponzi scheme," he said.
Prosecutors say that Konigsberg didn't intend to help defraud Madoff investors, but knowingly used fraudulently backdated trades provided by Mr. Madoff's firm as he prepared tax returns for some clients' investment account. He pled to two counts of falsifying records and one count of conspiracy.
The DoJ indictment states that part of the scam involved directing Madoff clients to use Konigsberg as their accountant, which meant Madoff Securities statements went directly to him.
Konigsberg is the 15th person to be convicted or plead guilty in relation to the Madoff fraud.
