US prosecutors on Monday asked a federal judge to jail Bernard Madoff pending his trial, saying he violated a court order by transferring more than $1m of valuables from his Manhattan apartment to third parties including his brother and son. Madoff, accused of masterminding a $50bn “Ponzi” scheme, is charged with securities fraud and faces separate civil charges brought by the SEC. As part of his $10m bail, Madoff is under house arrest and his assets have been frozen. Separately, David Kotz, SEC inspector-general, on Monday promised a “hard-hitting” investigation into the SEC’s failure to detect the fraud.