After barely 24 hours in prison, the Wall Street fraudster Bernard Madoff has launched an attempt to return to his Manhattan penthouse through an appeal for bail which discloses the true extent of his lavish lifestyle.

Documents filed by defence lawyers estimate that Madoff and his wife, Ruth, have assets worth between $823m and $826m (£589m to £591m) including four homes, four boats, a share in a private jet and a Steinway piano. To maintain their properties, they are burning through cash at a rate of $346,757 a month.

In a filing to the US appeals court, Madoff's lawyer, Ira Sorkin, says his client was fully co-operative with the terms of his release before judge Denny Chin jailed him on Thursday.

Sorkin says the judge's description of Madoff as a "flight risk" is "clearly erroneous", pointing out that he made no attempt at escaping during three months under house arrest even though he was "always cognisant of the fact that he would die in prison".

Sorkin says Madoff and his wife have told the US government that they are "willing to relinquish many of their assets".

Details of the couple's wealth are unlikely to please Madoff's victims. The financier has in effect been living off the proceeds of crime for nearly two decades, having admitted in court that he began operating his investment firm as a Ponzi scheme as far back as the early 1990s.

The couple's flat on Manhattan's upper east side is valued at $7m, while a house in the millionaires' playground of the Hamptons is worth $3m. A Palm Beach getaway has a price tag of $11m and a property in the French resort of Antibes is pegged at $1m. They keep a $7m yacht named Bull on a $1.5m boatslip near their house on the Côte d'Azur. Another boat, Sitting Bull, is worth $320,000 while a vessel in Florida described as a "Rybovich fishing boat" is valued at $2.2m.

Madoff's lawyers say they need constant access to him so that he can help compensate his victims: "Mr Madoff's contribution to this effort could be severely hampered, if not altogether eliminated, if he is remanded."

Much debate has centred around what Madoff's wife can legitimately keep. Most of the property is in her name and despite her husband's change of fortunes, she continues to lease a BMW, has jewellery worth $2.6m and plays a $39,000 piano.

Rich list

Bernard Madoff and his wife, Ruth, have assets including:

$7m Manhattan penthouse apartment

$3m Beach residence in the Hamptons

$11m Palm Beach holiday house

$7m A Leopard yacht called Bull"

$39,000 Steinway piano

$2.6m Jewellery

$12m 50% share in a private jet

$21,717 His current account balance

$17m Her current account balance

• This article was amended on Thursday 19 March 2009. We misstated the value of properties owned by Bernard and Ruth Madoff in the above article. The correct figures are: for a flat in Manhattan, $7m; for a house on Long Island, $3m; for a house in Palm Beach, $11m; and for a house in Cap d'Antibes, $1m. The incorrect values previously stated in the article referred to the assets in the properties, not the properties themselves. This has been corrected.