Madoff pleaded guilty in March to securities fraud, perjury and theft [EPA]

Judge Denny Chin handed down the maximum possible sentence against the former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York on Monday.

"Here the message must be sent that Mr Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll," Chin said.

The 71-year-old was arrested last year for orchestrating what has been called the biggest financial fraud in history.

He had pleaded guilty in March to counts of securities fraud, perjury and theft.

Wide-ranging fraud

Victims of Madoff's fraud included Hollywood celebrities, some of the world's most famous banks and charities.

Many of the foundations were forced to close after Madoff's rogue investment scheme suddenly collapsed.

Many of Madoff's investors were also ordinary, elderly retired people who thought their life savings were in safe hands.

Financial ruin

The Madoff scandal also affected financial institutions around the world [EPA]

Madoff told the court in March that the billions of dollars which passed through his hands during his 30-year scam were never invested in markets.

Instead, he stored the funds in a Manhattan bank account.

The funds were then used to pay out "dividends" to investors in what is known as a "Ponzi scheme".

Prosecutors say about $13bn was handed to Madoff.

The financier has referred to losing about $50bn, believed to be the amount that would have been paid out had the funds been properly invested.

The sums were bigger than the gross domestic product of countries such as Luxembourg and more than the external debt of several African nations.

Forfeit order

Madoff's sentencing comes after a judge last week issued a preliminary $170bn forfeiture order stripping him of all his personal property.

The order forces Madoff to forfeit assets including a $7m apartment in Manhattan, an $11m house in Palm Beach, Florida, and a $3m home located in New York's borough of Long Island.

The government also settled claims against Ruth Madoff, the financier's wife, who must also forfeit her interests totalling $80m in property which she had claimed were hers, prosecutors said.

Besides an accountant, no one else has been criminally charged in the scam.

But Madoff's family, including his wife, and brokerage firms who recruited investors, have come under intense scrutiny by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), regulators and a court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of his assets.

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