WASHINGTON — A court-appointed receiver is now in place for a $50 billion Ponzi scheme involving Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The Honorable Louis Stanton, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, has granted the SEC's request for emergency relief for investors, and issued an order freezing assets and appointing a receiver over Bernard Madoff and his firm. Lee Richards of Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP has been appointed receiver.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleged that Bernard L. Madoff informed two senior employees last week that his investment advisory business was a fraud. Madoff told these employees that he was "finished," that he had "absolutely nothing," that "it's all just one big lie," and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme." Madoff admitted in this conversation that the firm was insolvent and had been for years, and that he estimated the losses from this fraud were at least $50 billion, according to the SEC.