Jurors found five former employees of Bernard L Madoff guilty of fraud, a verdict that shows the convicted Ponzi schemer got a wide range of help keeping afloat a scam that ran for decades and cost investors $17 billion.

The defendants, who included two trading managers, two computer programmers and the firm's director of operations, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud investors and securities fraud. The outcome means that jurors were convinced all five in some way helped Madoff perpetrate the fraud. They each face decades in prison.