Bernard Madoff will learn today whether he must leave his luxury Manhattan penthouse for jail after allegedly violating the terms of his $10 million (£6.6 million) bail.

Mr Madoff, who is charged with having masterminded a $50 billion investment swindle, is under 24-hour house arrest at the Upper East Side apartment building replete with white-gloved doormen and residents who include Matt Lauer, the television personality.

Prosecutors argued last week that he had violated a bail requirement that he must not move any assets, by posting valuables worth more than $1 million to family and friends over the Christmas period. Ira Sorkin, Mr Madoff's attorney, insisted that the packages contained family heirlooms and had been sent in innocence.

Judge Ronald Ellis of the US District Court in Manhattan will hand down his written judgment on the issue at noon today. A separate court hearing tentatively scheduled for today on the criminal charges facing Mr Madoff has been adjourned at the Government's request.

Prosecutors had 30 days from Mr Madoff's arrest on December 11 to decide whether to continue the case as a criminal complaint or bring formal written charges. Mr Madoff has not yet formally answered the accusations he faces. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.

Mr Madoff allegedly confessed to his sons on December 10 that he had fooled investors for more than 40 years into believing that he was a successful fund manager, when in fact he was paying returns out of the money received from new customers.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also believed to be looking into whether Mr Madoff confessed to his brother Peter before he told his sons, and whether Peter Madoff had a responsibility to notify the authorities.

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