Floyd Norris asks, of Bernie Madoff:
I assume his funds’ books claimed to be audited. Who were the auditors? How were they fooled?
It turns out that investor Jim Vos already looked into that:
Madoff’s auditor, Friehling & Horowitz, operated from a 13-by-18-foot office in Rockland County, New York, a small operation for the auditor of such a large firm.
In other words, Madoff might as well have got a chimpanzee to audit the books, for all the checks and balances that Friehling & Horowitz provided. Which, of course, is why he chose them in the first place. I’m sure they were well compensated for not asking too many awkward questions; it would be nice if they, too, go to jail.