NEW YORK: Bernard Madoff's long-time deputy, Frank DiPascali, on Tuesday (local time) pleaded guilty to financial crimes including helping others carry out Wall Street's biggest investment fraud, but shed little more light in court on the decades-long swindle.

"I'm standing here today to tell you that from the early 1990s to 2008 I helped Bernie Madoff and other people carry out a fraud that hurt thousands of people. I am guilty," DiPascali, 52, said in Manhattan federal court in a dark suit and reading from a prepared statement.

US District Judge Richard Sullivan denied DiPascali bail. He was handcuffed and escorted out of court after pleading guilty under a cooperation deal with the government.