Corrupt Austrian bankers used a network of dodgy shell companies to help ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff hide around $12bn which has yet to be tracked down.

This is the claim made by freelance journalist Michael Leidig in a book – Pyramid Games – which he has published himself today. Based on hundreds of highly confidential documents provided by a whistleblower it claims that, far from acting alone as he alleges, Madoff had a network of international co-conspirators.

Here Leidig writes exclusively about his five-month investigation for the first time and reveals how he has insulated himself from libel risk by getting the whole book tabled as a question and call to action in the Austrian Parliament today (thus attracting privilege). He also details how no newsdesk could be persuaded to run with the story