Disgraced Banker Madoff Under House Arrest for $50bn Fraud

BNP Paribas SA became the latest European bank to reveal its exposure to the scandal, and its stock was the main loser among Europe's top banks, as the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission again answered questions about why the alleged fraud went on for a decade.

A federal judge ordered Madoff, 70, confined to his $7 million Manhattan apartment and told Madoff's wife, Ruth, to surrender her US passport by noon on Thursday as part of modified bail conditions.

Madoff will be fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet and will only be allowed to leave his home for appointments prearranged with authorities. Bloomberg reported that Ruth Madoff is being investigated by the SEC over whether she helped maintain secret records used in the alleged fraud, citing a person familiar with the matter.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Madoffs signed an agreement to forfeit their Manhattan apartment and properties in Montauk, New York and Palm Beach, Florida if they failed to adhere to the bail conditions.

Bernard Madoff was filmed by television crews leaving the federal court in Manhattan, but he did not talk to reporters. With a calm expression on his face, he sat in the front passenger seat of a black SUV that sped away. He later was seen by news photographers getting out of a vehicle near his apartment building.

Madoff walked briskly with a slight smile on his face as photographers jostled to take his picture before he entered the front door of the building.