Frank DiPascali: from college drop-out to Madoff’s right hand man

But for Queens-born DiPascali – now facing 125 years in jail for his part in the biggest investment fraud on record - his time spent at the firm was to prove to be somewhat out of the ordinary.

From the moment he joined in 1975, after being introduced to Madoff by one of his staff - DiPascali's next-door neighbour and childhood friend Annette Bongiorno - he began to move up the ranks.

“I don't how I went from being an 18-year-old kid who didn't have a job to standing here in the court,” DiPascali said on Tuesday as he confessed to his crimes. "I didn't know anything about Wall Street."