Washington - Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff will go to jail after admitting in court Thursday to a 50-billion-dollar fraud that entwined hundreds of investors around the world and has made him the poster-child of Wall Street greed in the current financial crisis.

Madoff pleaded guilty in a lower Manhattan federal court to all 11 criminal counts and could be sentenced to 150 years in jail for one of the largest swindles in US history, the court confirmed.

Judge Denny Chin accepted the guilty plea and said Madoff would be remanded into custody until he is sentenced on June 16, the court said. Madoff chose to plead guilty after failing to reach a plea deal with prosecutors.

He said he was "deeply sorry and ashamed" for his actions, and applause rung out in the court room after Judge Chin said Madoff would go to jail, CNBC reported.

The 70-year-old investor has been under house arrest since January at his luxurious Upper East Side Manhattan home on 10 million dollars bail - a court decision that provoked outrage among his many victims.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has estimated Madoff could face up to 150 years in prison. He was charged with securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and filing false statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Madoff was arrested in December for allegedly running a 50- billion-dollar pyramid "Ponzi" scheme, under which he was able to offer his investors handsome returns over 20 years by continually collecting fresh funds from new clients.

Once a powerhouse on Wall Street through his firm, Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC, his victims included celebrities, charities, universities and other prominent investors around the world.

The scandal has also been a major embarrassment for government regulators. An independent fraud investigator, Harry Markopolos, testified before Congress last month that he had warned the SEC of Madoff's plans some nine years ago.

Aside from Madoff's sentencing, the question remains whether the victims will be able to get any of their money back. Madoff's wife, Ruth, is arguing that tens of millions of dollars in her name cannot be touched to pay victims of the swindle.

Prosecutors also believe a number of Madoff's employees may have been involved in the scam, though no-one else has been charged to date.