Frank DiPascali, a senior lieutenant to Bernard Madoff, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to 10 criminal charges and provided extensive new details about the $65bn Ponzi scheme orchestrated by his long-time boss, saying: “It was all fake. It was all fictitious.”

Mr DiPascali, who has agreed to co-operate with prosecutors, told the court how he, Mr Madoff and unnamed others manufactured millions of pages of fake documents, regularly lied to investors and regulators, and moved money to London and back to throw watchdogs off the scent of the decades-long scheme.

Speaking in a low, steady voice, Mr DiPascali choked up only once during the long explanation of his crimes, near the end as he offered his apologies to “every victim of this catastrophe” and promised “to dedicate myself to explaining what happened”.