NEW YORK - AT LEAST one new camera has been installed in accused swindler Bernard Madoff's luxury Manhattan apartment building in compliance with a court order, his attorney said on Thursday.

Attorney Ira Lee Sorkin said the camera had been installed since Madoff's most recent court appearance last Wednesday 'pursuant to the judge's directive' aimed at keeping Madoff from removing valuables.

Mr Sorkin would not elaborate on how many cameras had been installed or where in the building.

Investment manager Madoff, 70, is under house arrest and 24-hour surveillance in his penthouse apartment. He was arrested on Dec 11 for what authorities have described as the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. In a Ponzi scheme, early investors are paid with money from new investors.

'We put additional cameras on the premises. I'm not going to tell you where they are or how many,' Mr Sorkin told Reuters.

Last week, Mr Sorkin argued successfully that Madoff should remain under house arrest, and not in jail, as part of a US$10 million (S$15 million) bail package.

Prosecutors had demanded that Madoff's bail be revoked after they disclosed that Madoff and his wife had mailed about US$1 million worth of jewellery and watches to friends and family members. The Madoffs had the jewellery returned.

In the Jan 14 court hearing, Mr Sorkin told US District Judge Lawrence McKenna that additional precautions would be taken to ensure that valuables could not be carried out of the apartment.

'We advised the judge that cameras would be installed,' Mr Sorkin said on Thursday.

Madoff's lawyers have said he is cooperating with the government investigations. -- REUTERS