Bernie Madoff, the New York financial adviser whose pyramid, or Ponzi schemes, collapsed with the loss of millions of dollars to his investors, has died in prison aged 82.

Madoff, whose scheme involved robbing some clients at the bottom of his pyramid to pay off those at the top, was convicted of multiple fraud offences believed to be worth $64.8 billion.

He pleaded guilty to 11 separate federal frauds and in 2009 was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum term allowed.

Hundreds of individuals, corporations and charities fell victim to Madoff’s scheme, said to have been the largest such Ponzi scheme in global history. Many of the charities were Jewish — Madoff and his wife Ruth were well-known figures in New York Jewish philanthropic circles and few of the charitable leaders thought twice about investing with him.

In court, Madoff apologised to his victims, saying: “I have left a legacy of shame, as some of my victims have pointed out, to my family and my grandchildren. This was something I will live in for the rest of my life. I'm sorry”.