Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff has pleaded guilty to all 11 charges in connection with a multi-billion dollar investment fraud.

He arrived at a New York courthouse this morning wearing a bullef-proof vest and is expected to be sentenced to a 150-year jail term on June 16.

Madoff, 70, was charged with four counts of fraud, three counts of money laundering, making false statements, perjury, making a false filing to the US financial watchdog, and theft from an employee benefit plan.

Investigators believe he used a Ponzi scheme to pay off early investors using money from new clients.

So far less than $1bn has been recovered. More than 4,000 people and companies, including Jewish charities, have claimed they lost money in the scam.

Madoff was a leading Wall Street figure for more than 40 years and is a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market.