Bernie Madoff, the man who was behind one of the world’s biggest and most infamous Ponzi schemes has died in prison.

He was serving a 150-year sentence after he pleaded guilty in 2009 to running a Ponzi scheme, which paid investors with money from new clients rather than actual profits.

His death was announced by the Bureau of Prisons.

Last year, Madoff tried to get an early release from prison saying that he was very ill.

“I’m terminally ill,” he told the Washington Post “There’s no cure for my type of disease. So, you know, I’ve served. I’ve served 11 years already, and, quite frankly, I’ve suffered through it.”

His request was denied.

“Bernie, up until his death, lived with guilt and remorse for his crimes,” his lawyer Brandon Sample said in a statement.

“Although the crimes Bernie was convicted of have come to define who he was – he was also a father and a husband. He was soft spoken and an intellectual. Bernie was by no means perfect. But no man is.”