The accountant for disgraced financier Bernard Madoff was arrested Wednesday on fraud charges.

Authorities accuse 49-year-old David Friehling of helping the convicted money manager cheat thousands of investors out of billions of dollars.

Friehling had been under investigation since news broke of Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Federal authorities are turning their attention to people they believe helped Madoff fool 4,800 investors into thinking that their investments were safe.

Friehling was released on $2.5 million bail.

AP wire services were used in this report.