Back تشارلز بونزي Arabic Çarlz Ponzi Azerbaijani Чарлз Понци Bulgarian Charles Ponzi Catalan Charles Ponzi Czech Charles Ponzi German Τσαρλς Πόντσι Greek Charles Ponzi Esperanto Carlo Ponzi Spanish چارلز پانزی Persian
 |
Charles Ponzi | |
|---|---|
 Ponzi c. 1920 | |
| Born | Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi March 3, 1882 |
| Died | January 18, 1949 (aged 66) |
| Other names |
|
| Occupation(s) | Financier, confidence trickster |
| Known for | Ponzi scheme |
| Spouse |
Rose Gnecco
(m. 1918; div. 1937) |
| Motive | Financial gain |
| Criminal charge | Forgery (Canada), mail fraud (U.S. federal), larceny (state) |
| Penalty | 3 years in Canada 1908–1911; 5 years U.S. federal (served 3+1⁄2 years before facing state charge) 1920–1922; 9 years state 1927–1934; deportation in 1934 |
Charles Ponzi (/ˈpɒnzi/, Italian: [ˈpontsi]; born Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi; March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949) was an Italian charlatan and con artist who operated in the United States and Canada. His aliases included Charles Ponci, Carlo, Benny Broncko and Charles P. Bianchi.[1]
Born in Lugo, Italy, he became known in the early 1920s as a swindler in North America for his money-making scheme. He promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days or 100% profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in other countries and redeeming them at face value in the U.S. as a form of arbitrage.[1]: 1 [2] In reality, Ponzi was paying earlier investors using the investments of later investors. While this type of fraudulent investment scheme was not invented by Ponzi, it became so identified with him that it now is referred to as a "Ponzi scheme". His scheme ran for over a year before it collapsed, costing his "investors" $20 million.
Ponzi may have been inspired by the scheme of William W. Miller (also known as "520% Miller"), a Brooklyn bookkeeper who in 1899 used a similar deception to take in $1 million (approximately $35 million in 2022).[3][4]
- ^ a b "Business & Finance: Ponzi Payment". Time. January 5, 1931. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
takewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "In Ponzi We Trust", Smithsonian, December 1998, archived from the original on October 22, 2013, retrieved December 21, 2008
- ^ Skarda, Erin (March 7, 2012). "William Miller, the Original Ponzi Schemer". Time. Retrieved January 10, 2020.