Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Madoff Enabler to Plead Guilty | Another figure in the Madoff affair should be headed to prison in the near future. David Friehling, Bernie's sketchy accountant and the man supposedly responsible for overseeing Madoff's financial activities out of his one-man firm in Rockland County, is expected to plead guilty to a variety of charges next week. He and faces a maximum of 108 years in prison. [NYT, WSJ]

Bernie Madoff: Now 66% Less Evil | Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme ultimately defrauded investors out of $21.2 billion, according to Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee overseeing the case. That's considerably more than the $13 billion put forward by prosecutors at Madoff's sentencing in June. But that's a lot less than the $65 billion that's been bandied about for many months now, which includes the fictitious profits Madoff had "made" for his clients. The revised figure won't diminish his status as the biggest fraudster in American history. Madoff can still hold his head high when he steps into the prison yard and rest assured no one's taking that trophy away from him anytime soon. [NYT]

Fraudster Auto Auction a Success | A New Jersey neurosurgeon named Gregory Przybylski is the proud new owner of Bernie Madoff's Mercedes station wagon. The fun-loving doc scooped up the vehicle (which he says is "a part of history") for $14,250 at a government auction last Friday. Meanwhile, the RV that once belonged to fraudster Sam Israel was auctioned off as well, selling to a Brooklyn car dealer for $27,500. [NYP]

Madoff Investor Found Dead | Jeffry Picower, the billionaire investor and philanthropist accused of collecting $7 billion in profits from Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, was found dead in his Palm Beach swimming pool on Sunday afternoon. An investigation into his death is underway. Update: The medical examiner who performed an autopsy now says the drowning was the result of a massive heart attack.

• The buyer who plunked down $9.41 million on Bernie and Ruth Madoff's oceanfront home in Montauk home has been revealed: It's billionaire real estate mogul Steve Roth and his wife, Broadway producer Daryl Roth. [WSJ]
• Alexander Navab, a partner at KKR and co-head of the firm's private equity business in North America, has paid $4.9 million for a two-bedroom co-op at the River House on East 52nd Street. Meanwhile, his four-bedroom spread just a few floors up remains on the market for $24.5 million. [Cityfile]
• The Minetta Lane townhouse owned by late party planner Robert Isabell has been reduced in price since first going on the market for $3.95 million. The 2,813-square-foot building, which features a "basement hand-chipped by Tibetan-born sherpas from Brooklyn," is now $3.45 million. [Curbed, MK] More

Bernie Madoff Makes Friends, Munches on Pizza | Bernie Madoff's life behind bars sure sounds, uh, colorful. A new lawsuit against the fraudster, which includes details from a recent visit to Madoff at a federal prison in North Carolina, says that he "shares a cell with a 21-year-old inmate convicted of drug crimes" (Madoff has the lower bunk); "eats pizza cooked by an inmate convicted of child molestation"; goes "walking around the prison track at night" for exercise; and spends his free time hanging out with "former Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico and Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel." [NYP]

• A month after it was reported that Bernie Madoff's Montauk home had gone into contract, an unidentified buyer has closed on the purchase of the oceanfront manse. The five-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot home, which had been listed for $8.75 million, ended up selling for $9.41 million. [ABC, NYDN]
• Writer/director John Ridley has finally unloaded his condo at 15 Central Park West. The 2,237-square-foot pad, which Ridley bought for $6.65 million in July 2008 and listed for $13 million just a few days later, has sold for $8 million to a company listed in property records as Moral Hole LLC. [Cityfile]
• Oil exec Tom Edelman has placed his 11-room apartment at 770 Park Avenue back on the market, albeit for quite a bit less than when he last put it up for sale a year and a half ago. The eighth-floor co-op, which Edelman listed for $16.75 million after picking up a bigger apartment at 775 Park, is now being offered for $11 million with Brown Harris Stevens' John Burger. [NYT, BHS]
• Late fashion designer Abbijane Schifrin's former townhouse at 141 East 19th Street has gone on the market. The five-story manse, which is currently divided into two units, is listed for $8.75 million. [NYT, Sotheby's]

Scammer Special | A 2001 Mercedes-Benz E320 that used to be the property of Bernie Madoff (before the US Marshals Service came along and confiscated the keys, naturally) is going up for auction on October 23. It's a Ponzi scheme double-header, actually. Also on the block will be the RV that once belonged to imprisoned hedge fund manager/scam artist Samuel Israel and served as his escape vehicle, no less. [Dealbreaker]

Bernie Madoff Stands His Ground | According to the Post, Bernie Madoff got into a "prison-yard tussle" last week. It wasn't over whose turn it was to use the weights in the prison yard, though, or who would be getting the last serving of jello in the prison cafeteria. The two supposedly faced off over "the state of the market," and Madoff ended up winning the battle, shoving the guy and forcing him to stumble, which allowed "Madoff to collect some 'cred' among his fellow prisoners." You may want to note that this is the same paper (and reporter) who informed us a few weeks ago that Madoff was dying of cancer. So perhaps in addition to beating down his rivals, Madoff's health is improving, too? Let's hope so! [NYP]

Madoff Trustee Closes Out the Week with a Bang | When Irv Picard makes a promise, he keeps it. A few days ago, the trustee overseeing the Madoff mess said he planned to file a lawsuit against several other members of the Madoff clan—including Bernie's brother, two sons, and niece—for treating the family firm like a "piggy bank." And today he delivered, filing an action in federal bankruptcy court seeking the return of $199 million.More

Madoff's Day Off | So did Bernie Madoff attempt to atone for his sins on Yom Kippur yesterday? That's hard to say, although prison officials say they did give him the chance to take the day off from his usual work detail: "Prison officials would not say if Madoff, serving a 150-year sentence, took advantage of the day off on the holiest day of the year in the Jewish faith or whether he participated in an evening prayer session with other Jewish inmates on what is a day of atonement and repentance." [ABC News]

More Madoff Suits on the Way | The Madoff show goes on. In an interview that aired on last night's 60 Minutes, court-appointed trustee Irving Picard said he plans to file a civil suit against Bernie sons, Mark and Andy, this week which will seek the return of $198 million. And just so no one in the immediate family feels left out, he'll be suing Bernie's brother Peter and niece Shana, too. [Dealbook]

Bernie Madoff Portrait Needs New Home | We really can't imagine why, but Bernie Madoff's old assistant, Eleanor Squillari, has decided to auction off a portrait of Madoff that the fraudster gave her as a gift back in the late '80s. (Squillari mentioned the photo in the June issue of Vanity Fair: "Once, he gave me a picture of him taken by Karsh, the famous Canadian photographer, saying, 'Here, hang this over your bed.'") It's estimated to sell for between $3,000-$5,000. But hurry up! Bidding ends tomorrow. [Artnet via Dealbreaker]

Madoff Victim List Cut in Half | You probably assumed that anyone who had the misfortune to entrust their money to Bernie Madoff lost their shirts, right? Not quite. Only about half of his clients lost money when you account for how much cash they withdrew from their accounts during the same time period, say prosecutors. Does this mean prosecutors might now consider cutting Madoff's jail sentence in half? We're guessing the answer is "no," but we thought we'd throw it out there. [NYDN]

Madoff's Montauk House Sells | Bernie Madoff's home in Montauk, which went up for sale two weeks ago, has found a buyer. ABC News reports the beachfront home has been sold to an unidentified person in an all cash deal "over the asking price," according to Joan and Raymond Hegner of the Corcoran Group. Interest in the fraudster's property was "fast and furious," say the brokers. Maybe it was it the water pressure that sealed the deal? [ABC News, previously]