Madoff's financial fraud 'dates back to the 1970s'

Fraudster Bernard Madoff lied about the extent of his crimes even on the day he was sentenced to 150 years in prison, it emerged in a Manhattan court yesterday.

A trader in the former Wall Street grandee's investment business, David Kugel, pleaded guilty to fabricating accounts and making up share trades as far back as the 1970s, well over a decade longer than Madoff said.

Kugel's plea – to six criminal counts – is part of a co-operation agreement with the US government, which is still prosecuting and investigating more senior employees at Madoff Investment Securities, including the founder's brother and long-time deputy, Peter Madoff.

Madoff claimed his worked alone and hid his crimes from his family and, in court in 2009, he said "to the best of my recollection, my fraud began in the early 1990s".