The New York City penthouse where imprisoned fraudster Bernard Madoff spent his last days of freedom with his wife Ruth will go on sale.

The seven-room duplex with wraparound terrace on Manhattan's east side is expected to fetch $8 million to $10 million, which will be used to reimburse victims of Mr Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme.

The co-op apartment, to be listed by Sotheby's International Realty, contains the Madoffs' Persian rugs, chandeliers and baby grand Steinway piano, according to a press pool video released by the Marshals Service earlier this week.

Except for FBI labels on each piece of furniture and dozens of cardboard boxes filled with designer clothing and kitchen wares, it looks as if the Madoffs could return any minute.

Art adorns the walls and Baccarat crystal glasses are in the cupboards.

But Roland Ubaldo, the deputy US Marshal who showed the apartment to the media this week, said the penthouse had a much more "personal touch" when it was seized in July. Federal marshals took possession of the penthouse on July 2, forcing Ruth Madoff to leave and surrender nearly all her belongings. She was allowed to keep a few personal effects and a "reasonable" amount of clothing, Mr Ubaldo said.

Bernie Madoff did not need anything from the apartment because "he is given everything he needs by the Bureau of Prisons," Mr Ubaldo said, referring to the 150-year prison term Mr Madoff began serving this summer.

Standing in front of the closets, Mr Ubaldo described 50 or 60 custom suits Mr Madoff left behind, and monogrammed shirts.

The penthouse is the second of the Madoffs' four properties to be listed for sale.

The 4,000-square-foot penthouse where Mr Madoff spent his house arrest may be the most infamous of his homes.

A desk at which he was photographed last February typing on a laptop and sipping a beer still stands near a window.