The 71-year-old Mr Madoff, a former chairman of the US Nasdaq stock market, was sentenced in New York by a US District Judge after admitting 11 charges of fraud, perjury and false reporting, media reports said. 

A long list of financial institutions and individuals fell victim to Mr Madoff, whose activities have focused attention on whether banks and other firms carried out sufficient due diligence checks to test the authenticity of Mr Madoff’s financial operations. The scandal has also served as a symbol of the greed and hubris of investors in the years running up to the credit crunch.