Bernard Madoff, finds out today if he will be jailed after he mailed gifts including a diamond bracelet and watches to family and friends

Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street heavyweight accused of cheating investors in a $US50 billion ($A71 billion) Ponzi scheme, finds out today if he will be jailed before his trial. Madoff will learn at noon today - early tomorrow morning Australian time -whether his $US10 million bail will be revoked when US Judge Ronald Ellis hands down his decision on the matter. Prosecutors asked Justice Ellis to jail Madoff, who is living at his $US7 million apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side, after he mailed gifts including a diamond bracelet and watches to family and friends during the holiday period in violation of a court-ordered asset freeze. They said Madoff's actions suggested he may flee and is a danger to the community, which are grounds for revoking his bail. Madoff's defense lawyer, Ira Sorkin, said his client did not know the order from a related civil lawsuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission applied to his personal items. Separately, Madoff was scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan today for prosecutors to present some of their evidence against him, but the hearing has been postponed for another 30 days at the US government's request.

Madoff was arrested on December 11 and charged with fraud for using billions of dollars from new investors to pay off old ones.