A jury has been chosen for the New York criminal trial of five ex-employees of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff.

The jury is to begin hearing opening statements Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Manhattan.

The defendants include Madoff’s former longtime secretary and the director of operations for investments at the firm he headed since the 1960s. Other defendants are a former account manager and two computer programmers. All have pleaded not guilty.

The 75-year-old Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence after revealing the epic fraud in December 2008. Prosecutors will try to prove that Madoff’s employees helped him carry out a multi-decade fraud that cheated thousands of investors out of nearly $20 billion.

The trial is expected to last about five months.

(AP)