David Friehling ’81, Bernard Madoff’s chief auditor, is the first person after Madoff to be charged in connection with the $65 billion Ponzi scheme that fooled 4,800 investors. After surrendering at the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, Friehling was released on a bail of $2.5 million that afternoon.

Friehling, who is 49 years old, was charged with one count of securities fraud, one count of aiding and abetting investment adviser fraud, and four counts of making false Securities and Exchange Commission filings, according to the Associated Press. If found guilty on all charges, Friehling could face up to 105 years in prison.

Although Bernard L. Madoff’s $50 billion ponzi scheme has burdened many institutions of higher education with unforeseen losses in their endowments, Cornell has yet to report any losses incurred by the scandal.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Madoff on Dec. 11 and federal prosecutors charged the 70-year-old man with securities fraud. While Madoff’s investors include wealthy individuals like New York Met’s owner Jeff Wilpon and banks around the world like HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland, Bloomberg reports that Madoff “had directly affected 400 U.S. nonprofits.”

James Walsh, chief investment officer for Cornell, said in an e-mail, “I am glad to say we had zero exposure to Madoff and strongly believe it would never have found its way into our portfolio.”