Bernard Madoff lost his Manhattan penthouse Thursday, when U.S. Marshals took possession of the US$7 million property and forced his wife to move out.

U.S. Marshals arrived at lunchtime, bringing a court order barring any current residents from staying and giving them control of the swanky living quarters that the disgraced financier lived in until last March.

U.S. Marshal Joseph Guccione said Madoff's wife had been made aware of what would happen on Thursday and would comply with the order.

"She will be leaving," Guccione said. "Restitution for the victims is the government's top priority."

Ruth Madoff was moving out and handing over all of her personal property, as part of a deal she made with federal prosecutors that allowed her to keep $2.5 million. But she could still lose the money if she is pursued by one of her husband's victims in a civil suit.

Her husband, however, has been in custody since March, when he pleaded guilty to charges that he bilked thousands of investors out of their money through a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that lasted at least 20 years.

On Monday, he was sentenced to serve 150 years in prison for his crimes.

According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Madoff is currently being held in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center, an administrative facility holding pre-trial and holdover inmates.

On Monday, Ruth Madoff said her husband "stunned us all with his confession and is responsible for this terrible situation in which so many now find themselves."

With files from The Associated Press