Cheers erupted in the Manhattan federal courthouse yesterday as Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum possible under law, for running a $65bn Ponzi scheme that has devastated thousands of investors around the world.

The sentence came after an emotional hearing in which Mr Madoff, 71, conceded he could offer no excuses for decades-long fraud that may be the biggest in history.

“I leave a legacy of shame, as many of my victims have pointed out, for my children and grandchildren. That is something I will have to live with the rest of my life,” Mr Madoff said before the sentence was handed down. The former Nasdaq chairman also turned briefly to the victims in the courtroom, saying: “I'm sorry, I know that doesn't help you.”