New York City ? A debate has been raging in New York over the fact that Bernard Madoff remains free on bail, spending his days in his luxury Manhattan penthouse despite being accused of the largest financial fraud in history.

Investors, editorial writers, and the general public have all expressed outrage, and prosecutors argue Madoff should be thrown behind bars because he could flee or hide his assets. But the push to jail the disgraced financier may have another, hidden purpose: Payback for his decision to stop cooperating.

Madoff, despite a dramatic confession during his arrest, has quit talking about how the money was collected and where it went, hampering the investigation and killing any incentive to give him a break on bail, officials familiar with the case said Wednesday.

The request to revoke Madoff’s bail suggests authorities “must think something’s being withheld,” said John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School. “The attempt to put him in jail is a way to ratchet up the pressure to resume cooperating.”