Jack Cutter, an 80-year-old from Colorado, said he had taken a job as a meat clerk in a grocery store for a wage of $8.39 an hour: "It is difficult work and the pay is small, but it is something."Others are relying on friends and family for help. Korean war veteran, Allan Goldstein, 76, said he and his wife had been left destitute. "We had to sell our home in upstate New York to avoid foreclosure. We are now living in one room in my daughter's house in California. I cannot pay my long-term health insurance. I had to give up my car and we are applying for food stamps."Numbered among Madoff's victims are headline-grabbing celebrities including Kevin Bacon, Steven Spielberg, the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar and the Noble prize-winning author Elie Wiesel. But many less affluent people lost smaller sums through so-called "feeder funds" which often did little to advertise their connection with Madoff.

Robert Mick, 52, said he had never even heard of Madoff before the fraudster's arrest and had no idea that his life savings were affected until he received a letter from his financial adviser nine days later. Mick wasted few words in his advice to the judge: "Mr Madoff deserves no better than to live under a bridge in a cardboard box, scavenging for his food and clothing, living the existence which he has undoubtedly relegated some unfortunate victims to." Not all of Madoff's investors are willing to accept that the fund manager acted alone. To date, the jailed financier has refused to co-operate with liquidators trying to salvage any remnants from his business empire. His wife, Ruth, continues to live in a penthouse apartment on Manhattan's upper east side and the couple's children, Andrew and Mark, have denied all knowledge of wrongdoing despite holding senior positions at Madoff Securities.

"It is inconceivable to me that one man could have perpetuated this giant Ponzi scheme without the help of his wife, brother, sons, other employees and outside assistance," wrote Leonard Forrest, 80, who lost "every dollar" of his savings at Madoff's hands. "He has obviously 'fallen on the sword' to protect his wide-ranging co-conspirators."Those who removed funds from Madoff's firm in the months and years running up to the exposure of the scandal are living uncertainly, conscious of a controversial threat from liquidator Irving Picard, who plans legal action to "claw back" withdrawn money in order to share out funds equitably between all victims. "I now live in fear of the trustee invoking his clawback threat," wrote Norma Hill, an investor from upstate New York. "I open my mail box wondering if this will be the day when the letter arrives."There is a widespread sense of betrayal towards regulatory authorities who failed to spot wrongdoing at Madoff's empire, despite suspicions dating back to 1999 that prompted a botched investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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