Madoff placed under house arrest

No Christmas parties for Bernard Madoff. The disgraced New York hedge fund king, accused of defrauding clients across the world of $50 billion, is to spend the holiday period under nightly house arrest, with an electronic tag fitted to his ankle, after failing to find the four people needed to guarantee his $10 million bail.

Only his wife Ruth and brother Peter were prepared to be guarantors: neither of his sons, Mark and Andrew, stepped forward - hardly surprising since they were the ones who turned him in to prosecutors last week after he admitted his investment scheme was "all just one big lie" - while the many celebrities and friends who had invested with Madoff over the years were nowhere to be seen.

Hence the tightened bail conditions imposed yesterday. He will be under curfew from 7pm to 9am every night, only able to leave his luxury duplex on the corner of Park Avenue and East 64th Street for appointments agreed with the court. He has already surrendered his passport and Ruth has to hand in hers by noon today.

The Manhattan apartment is one of three homes 70-year-old Madoff has had to put up for his bail: he also risks forfeiting his beachfront house in Montauk, Long Island, and his $21m Florida pad, just down the road from the Palm Beach Country Club where he played golf off a 9.8 handicap.

Many who lost their money investing in Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities believe prosecutors should be taking a tougher line. "The investors I am speaking with are extremely upset and think he should be in jail today," said Ross Intelisano, a New York lawyer who specialises in representing investors against financial institutions. "They think he is a flight risk, and they are shocked that the bail is so low."