Ponzi scheme - English Ponzi scheme, is an investment scheme that provides income to earlier investors with funds received from later investors. It may look legitimate at first, but a Ponzi scheme usually collapses as soon as the influx of new investors becomes insufficient to pay old ones. In some cases, the Ponzi Scheme is initially used without malicious intent, but with the aim of making a profit while fulfilling all obligations to investors. However, in most cases, the scheme is created for fraudulent purposes in order to bring profit to its organizers, who make little or no effort to make a profit for investors.

While the principle of the Ponzi scheme has been around for centuries, modern name fraudulent investment activity of this type is associated with a 20th century Italian immigrant named Charles Ponzi. After successfully immigrating to the US in 1903, Ponzi created an investment scheme based on arbitrage deals with reciprocal coupons. To finance this activity, he raised money from investors by offering them a high percentage. In the future, funds received from new investors were partially directed to pay income to earlier investors, and Ponzi spent part of them on its own needs.

There is a fairly common misconception that the Ponzi scheme is a variation of the classic financial pyramid, but there are some fairly subtle differences between the two schemes. While both of these strategies are examples of illegal investment schemes that give the appearance of a serious organization promising high returns in a short period of time, there is a central figure in the Ponzi scheme who receives most of the money from fraud. In contrast, a pyramid scheme involves the creation of a network of investors who in turn actively recruit new investors and usually receive a percentage of any investment made as a result of their efforts. That is, in a classic financial pyramid, everything cash flows are not tied to one person.

Moreover, the Ponzi scheme does not solely rely on new investors to keep running. As a companion strategy, the Ponzi scheme also involves returning to the scheme earlier investors who have already earned some income from their initial investment by persuading them to reinvest all of these funds. This strategy is not typical of most Ponzi schemes, which mainly rely on the continuous attraction of new or new investors to be able to continue to function.

While most countries have laws that prohibit similar practice and involve penalties in the form of fines and/or imprisonment, sometimes a Ponzi scheme is very difficult to identify at the development stage. Over time, as activities grow and scale, the operation of the scheme inevitably becomes apparent and usually ends. lawsuits and bankruptcy. However, at this stage, most investors will receive significant losses, the probability of recovering which is extremely low.

The builders of financial pyramids have existed for more than one century. The founder of the first of them is Charles Ponzi, whose name this invention is solemnly named. It's funny, but if at least one of the pyramid builders took care of simple mathematics, he would understand that in order to pay 100% of the profit of the first 1000 investors, it is necessary to receive new investments from 2000 other investors. The next stage requires 3,000 investors to raise funds from 6,000 new investors. Next, you need to increase the number of investors to 18,000 in order to pay off the requirements of the first 9,000 investors. So, on the tenth round of the financial pyramid, 13,122,000 investors should theoretically make deposits. But the whole problem is that after the 15th orbit, the number of investors will become more than the entire population of the earth! Therefore, the Ponzi scheme is doomed to fail sooner or later. And what is written below only confirms this rule.

pyramid ponzi

The first pyramid scheme was built by the Italian Charles Ponzi in 1919 in the United States. As Charles himself told reporters, the idea of ​​​​creating his own pyramid came to him after he received an international return coupon by mail from one of the Spanish businessmen. The essence of the coupon circulation was as follows: the ratio exchange rates currencies is such that it was possible to profitably resell in the US coupons that were previously purchased in European countries.

Charles created the "Exchange Company valuable papers” (“The Securities Exchange Company”) or “SXC”, where he invited several investors. They were supposed to finance the proposed scam, for which they received a promissory note. But at the same time, Charles promised them 100% of the profits that arose from transatlantic trade in a little more than 3 months. No similar payment by issuers of other securities could guarantee this.

Charles Ponzi

In fact, Ponzi, of course, did not buy coupons, because. they could only be exchanged for postage stamps. He simply gave to the old investors a part of the amounts brought by the new ones. By July 1920, Ponzi bills brought him up to 250 thousand dollars daily. The Boston Post regularly published lavishly paid commendations of Ponzi's activities.

Perhaps everything would have gone well if not for the Post Magazine journalists. These nosy noses calculated that 160 million coupons would need to be in circulation to cover the company's investment, when there were only 27,000.

The pyramid collapsed in the summer of 1920 due to a lawsuit by one of the investors named Daniels, who demanded 50% of the profits from the Ponzi company. Under the law of that time, the lawsuit allowed the freezing of Ponzi funds that were in bank accounts. On July 26, Ponzi announced a temporary suspension of deposits due to inspections. It was a mistake, the depositors ran in a crowd to take the money. On August 10, 1920, an investigation was initiated by federal agents. She established that SXC had not invested a dime at all, but only paid interest using proceeds from new investors. During the trial, some of the money was found. But depositors managed to return only 37% of the value of the bill. According to various sources, Ponzi received from 3 to 5 years in prison, his movable and real estate and was also fined $250,000.

Madoff

Bernard Madoff is an ordinary American guy. In his youth, he loved to swim with friends, worked as a lifeguard on the beach and even as an irrigation equipment installer. He has never been a villain!

With about $5,000 saved up, he founded his own company: Madoff Investment Securities. After some time, his brother Peter, both sons and even nephews, were already listed in various positions in his business. The Madoff firm took part in the creation of the American stock exchange NASDAQ, which was engaged in the purchase and sale of securities in the interests of investors. She was one of the top 25 members of this exchange, a Wall Street pillar and an e-commerce pioneer. It was Bernard Madoff, by the way, who first computerized the entire process in his company.

Madoff Investment Securities was considered among the US investment funds one of the most profitable and reliable. He brought about 12-13% per annum to his investors. On the sidelines, there was, of course, gossip that Madoff's success was ensured by access to insider information: too many banks, hedge funds and charities were his clients. However, while everything was fine, no one really cared about it. And it was not true, as it turned out later.

2008 was a disaster year. Not only is the global financial crisis hit investors hard, and they wanted to withdraw part of their funds from Madoff, so both sons of the tycoon behaved like the last cowards and pawned their dad with their heads: having received “repentance” from him, they took him to the authorities on a silver platter.

Well, if without lyrics, then for 13 years of its activity, the company Madoff Investment Securities, as the investigation later found out, did not make a single transaction on the stock exchange. None! She paid all interest to previous investors at the expense of newcomers. When investors withdrew $7 billion in December 2018, the pyramid collapsed like a house of cards.

During the investigation, Bernard confessed to 11 counts and mercifully received 150 years in prison. One of Bernard's sons committed suicide while the investigation was ongoing. Just like, by at least another one of the investors who suffered losses.

During his speech, Madoff said that he himself no longer knows how it happened. At first everything seemed like a game, and then the snowball grew so much that there was no way to stop it.

Data. The Madoff Pyramid is the largest in history. As a result of its collapse, about 3 million people and several hundred financial institutions in the United States, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland suffered. Here are the biggest losses:

• Fairfield Sentry Ltd hedge fund - $7.3 billion.
• Kingate Global Fund Ltd - $2.8 billion.
• "Tremont Holdings Inc's Rye Investment Management" - about $3 billion.
• Banking group "Banco Santander" (Spain) - 3.1 billion dollars.
• HSBC Bank - $1 billion.
• Royal Bank of Scotland - $600 million.
• BNP Paribas Bank (France) - $460 million.
• Boston Charitable Foundation "Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation" - complete bankruptcy.
• Bank South Korea- 63 million dollars.

MMM

Another good guy who destroyed the world is Sergey Mavrodi (and Co.).

Coming from a family of an installer and an economist, he took all the best from his parents: he perfectly knew how to count in his favor and wonderfully “mount” high-rise financial objects - pyramids.

It must be said that from the very beginning fate led him to the idea that it was necessary to live “bolder, more fun, more inventive”, rewarding him with a double heart defect at birth. The doctors predicted his death in the cradle, but Sergei deceived their expectations.

In 1989 he organized Joint-Stock Company MMM. As stated in official sources, the name is an abbreviation of the first letters of the names of the three founders of the business: Sergei Mavrodi, Vyacheslav Mavrodi and Olga Melnikova. For five years, the company carried out only financial and trading activity: resold computers and other office equipment imported into the country.

And only 1994 is officially considered the year of the creation of a financial pyramid, in which almost 15 million depositors participated. MMM issued 991,000 shares at a price of 1,000 rubles apiece, and since February they have gone on sale. At the same time, the firm introduced two-sided quotations with a margin for buying and selling. This led to a rapid spread, as the shares were traded on the principle: "today is always more expensive than yesterday."

A few months later, the company's management tried to register a second prospectus for the issue of securities already for a billion shares. However, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation did not issue a permit. And then Mavrodi had a brilliant idea in its simplicity: he printed and issued “MMM tickets”, which were not securities, but formally equaled one hundredth of the share price. Outwardly, they resembled a Soviet chervonets with Sergei instead of Lenin in the center.

Mavrodi replaced purchase and sale transactions with donation transactions. That is, the MMM ticket was not purchased, but was issued as a souvenir for a voluntary donation. In the opposite situation, Sergey himself donated money to the depositor.

From February to August 1994, ticket prices increased 127 times, and the number of depositors reached 15 million people. According to the memoirs of former Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Shokhin, at government meetings, Chernomyrdin "swearing at the security forces, demanding at least something to be done, until everything burst."

Payments of money continued until July 27, after which Sergei Mavrodi, by his decree of July 29, announced a decrease in the value of shares by 127 times, to a thousand rubles. At the same time, it was stated that prices would now rise twice as fast, increasing four times every month. On August 4, 1994, Mavrodi was arrested for tax evasion. His office was closed, a search was made and several bags of money were found, or rather, 4 billion rubles or 690.6 thousand dollars at the August 1994 exchange rate. That's the whole story. Further - crowds of the deceived investors and statements of the head of a MMM that everything "stole" the state. 50 people committed suicide. No one could return the money - legal subtleties prevented.

Unlike America, our pyramid builder was not put behind bars. On the contrary, he became a member of the State Duma! And even made attempts to run for president. The first pyramid was followed by the second and third, as well as similar projects on the Internet. Mavrodi plans to run for president of Russia in 2018. Well, I think he has a chance.

L&G K.K.

On February 5, 2009, the world was shocked by unexpected news from Japan. Head of the Japanese investment company L&G was arrested that day on suspicion of creating a financial pyramid, whose investors, according to preliminary estimates, lost from 1.4 to 2.2 billion dollars.

Arrested was 75-year-old Kazutsugi Nami (Kazutsugi Nami), who at that time headed the board of directors of the Tokyo company L&G K.K., and declared himself bankrupt. This company, according to The Japan Times, promised to pay investors every three months a 9 percent dividend for every million yen invested, in other words, about 40% per annum! L&G K.K. also issued its own electronic money, called Enten, which depositors received in exchange for the funds deposited in its accounts.

Kazutsugi Nami

According to Jiji Press, 37,000 investors have invested in L&G K.K. about 126 billion yen (US$1.4 billion). The Japan Times, based on data from Kyodo News, estimated L&G K.K. funds of more than 200 billion yen (2.24 billion US dollars).

L&G K.K. became the 3rd largest financial pyramid in the world and the first in the history of Japan. Until that time, the case of Toyota Shoji, which operated in the 1980s, was considered the largest fraud in the Land of the Rising Sun. She raised funds from elderly Japanese by promising them investments in gold.

As a result of the investigation, in 2010, Kazutsugi Nami was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Stanford Financial Group

February 17, 2009, immediately after the start of the financial crisis collapsed (not without the help of journalists and government law enforcement agencies) another (except for Madoff) the largest in American history pyramid - Stanford Financial Group.

58-year-old Allen Stanford, a famous financier and philanthropist, sponsor of professional sports, was the head of the broker-dealer consulting company Stanford Group Company, located in the offshore zones of Antigua and Barbuda. In addition, he controlled the Stanford International Bank, whose clients were more than 30 thousand people. Assets under management of the financial institution were valued at $50 billion. Stanford also owned Management Company Stanford Capital Management. All three organizations were part of the SFG.

Allen Stanford

SFG services were used by private and institutional investors and companies from 136 countries of the world. In January 2009, financial analyst Alex Dalmady published an article in the Venezuelan economic journal VenEconomia in which he attempted to "calculate" financial institution like the one run by Bernard Madoff, who had just been exposed by the authorities.

Alex Dalmadi chose his company on three points: it offered customers high interest, was run by a small group of people and had such a good reputation that no regulator would check it. And so, by an unfortunate accident for Stanford, Dalmadi chose Stanford International Bank.

Interest rate on deposits at Stanford Bank outperformed by 3 percentage points maximum bid V American banks and amounted to 7.5 percent per annum. The organization was run by the billionaire himself, his classmate James Davis, Stanford's father and neighbor, whose business experience was limited to the production and trade of meat, as well as the sale of used cars.

Alex's article did not go unnoticed. A month after the publication, several American departments became interested in the activities of SFG almost simultaneously: the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Commission on financial regulation Florida (FOFR) and Commission on Regulation financial markets(FIRA).

Since the beginning of the check, all bank accounts have been frozen. Panic ensued among depositors who wanted but could not get their money back. In fact, even if the government gave such permission, financial resources on the accounts simply would not be in the right amount.

According to the SEC, Stanford orchestrated the largest fraudulent investment scheme in which SFG clients lost about $8 billion. The SEC does not disclose most of the details of the accusation, however, it is known that the commission accused Stanford and his assistants of selling depositary certificates and other certificates to clients. investment instruments, promising high returns on them. At the same time, certificates of deposit did not have the necessary insurance from the US Federal Deposit Insurance Bureau.

The Ponzi scheme appeared in the early 1920s, although one cannot be completely sure that such schemes did not exist before. It's just that the scope of this pyramid turned out to be so huge that the scheme was able to go down in history and become a household name. It is noteworthy that about 100 years have passed since that time, and financial pyramids not only continue to exist, but also appear almost every year on an even larger scale. For example, the famous MMM pyramid, which is resurrected every year in a new guise. This suggests that there will always be people who want easy money, only the existence of such pyramid schemes undermines the confidence of real investors in new financial projects.

Read on to learn how to distinguish a financial pyramid from real investment projects and not lose your money.

History of the Ponzi Pyramid

It all started with a postal agreement that came into effect in 1906 between several dozen countries. Its essence boiled down to the introduction of uniform rules for postal exchange: unique postal coupons with the same value in each country were put into circulation. The coupon was enclosed in a letter and the recipient, instead of spending money on postage stamps for a reply letter, received them in exchange for a coupon.

The scheme worked perfectly for almost 10 years until economic condition European countries have not been shaken sharply. As a result of the First World War, a financial crisis broke out in Europe, which led to a sharp imbalance in the value of postal coupons between European countries and USA. If in Europe one coupon could be exchanged for one mark worth 1 cent, then in the USA the same coupon was exchanged for 6 marks. Here's the problem: what's the point of these postage stamps if they can't be exchanged for real money?

The problem was solved by Charles Ponzi, who in 1919 proposed to make money on the exchange rate difference by issuing bills, which should have been profitable. Let's not go into economic essence scheme, the important thing is that Ponzi was able to convince potential investors (not without the help of the media) that investments could bring 100% within 3 months. Later, in August 1920, checking federal agency Ponzi company will show that investors' money was not invested in any coupons, and investors' profits were paid out of other investors' money.

It is logical that such a scam was obviously doomed to failure, since sooner or later the flow of new investors would not be enough to fulfill obligations to old investors. But Charles at that time was not interested in this issue, and the pyramid was liquidated before this moment came. The result is predictable: investors failed to return most of the money, the organizer himself received a prison term and a fine.

A Ponzi scheme is often referred to as a pyramid scheme. This is partly true, but there are significant points that distinguish Ponzi from the classic pyramid:

• The Ponzi pyramid has an ideological central organizer who manages the entire system and receives most of the profits. In contrast, in an ordinary financial pyramid there is a group of investors, which, according to the principle of MLM networks, attracts new investors who would also contribute to the influx of new customers;
• The Ponzi scheme involves not only attracting new investors, but also retaining old ones, who are given all the conditions for them to reinvest capital. Classic pyramid schemes rely on continuously attracting new investors until the flow dries up.
• The legend formed by the mastermind of a Ponzi scheme is far more convincing than conventional pyramid schemes. The lifespan of ordinary pyramids is several times shorter than that of a Ponzi scheme.

Ponzi followers

1. The Bernard Madoff scam. The largest fraud in history, the exact damage of which could not be calculated. According to various estimates, Madoff was able to appropriate from 50 to 64.8 billion dollars. United States, thereby deceiving about 3 million people around the world.

The enterprising swindler began his career in 1980, trading on the New York Stock Exchange. He was one of the first to use electronic technologies in trading, gradually increasing volumes. Over time, under his leadership, investment funds began to appear, working with completely different assets: stocks, options, etc. By the mid-90s, Madoff's reputation was so impeccable that investors from all over the world were drawn to his funds. One of them was Frenchman Thierry de la Vilhouchet, co-founder of Access International Advisers, who helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars of investors from Europe to Madoff's funds. After uncovering the scam, he committed suicide.

The pyramid principle was classic: the Madoff corporation attracted money from investors of other investment funds, corporations, investment pools, which it allegedly invested in stock trading. Among the clients you can find such names and companies as Steven Spielberg, Joseph Safra (the owner of banks and real estate around the world). Investors were attracted by the guaranteed yield of 10-12% and the almost complete absence of management fees. But in fact, the money was paid only at the expense of other investors.

Where the auditors and regulators were looking is a rhetorical question, but the scheme was able to hold out until 2008. According to legend, Madoff was betrayed by his own sons, but it is not possible to verify the accuracy of the information. For so long, the pyramid managed to exist due to the fact that Bernard was not greedy, declaring a moderate return on investment. It is believed that he could have patrons in power, but we are also unlikely to ever know about this. The pyramid no longer exists, and the organizer himself received 150 years in prison.

2. Scam of Sergei Mavrodi (MMM). We are sure that everyone has heard about this pyramid. This largest pyramid scheme in Russia was created in 1992 and left 10-15 million people deceived. But the point is not so much in her, but in the fact that Mavrodi did not stop there. Here are just a few reincarnations of this pyramid:

• Stock Generation - virtual stock Exchange, considered the largest pyramid scheme in the history of the Internet;
• "MMM-2011: We can do a lot" and MMM-2012 - projects similar to MMM;
• Mavro is a cryptocurrency that appeared in 2016 (although in fact it is not). At the end of 2017, the project was expecting a scam, followed by a restart;
• "MMM Pyramid" is a project of 2018, which the organizers call the Global Mutual Fund. According to legend, the project has existed since 2011, which is not entirely true.

It seems that the experience of the first MMM pyramid did not teach investors anything. It is difficult to say what drives these people - excitement or greed. But the fact remains that such pyramids will always have clients.

Other famous pyramids:

• Lou Perlman's diagram. Known in music circles (manager of the Backstreet Boys and N "Sync), he is also known for the built pyramid that existed for almost 20 years. Investor losses amounted to more than $ 300 million. Created in 1981, the pyramid of non-existent companies was so convincing that it was able to enter misleading even representatives of financial institutions.
• The European Royal Club that swindled German and Swiss investors for 2 years in 1992. The loss amounted to about 1 billion dollars. USA.
• Ant farms of Wang Feng. In 1999, a Chinese businessman opened an unusual company: he offered investors to buy ants for 90 days, take care of them and return them at a higher price. Profitability was about 32% per annum, turnover - about 2 billion dollars. USA. After 14 months, the pyramid opened up.

Modern pyramid organizers have learned to perfectly disguise themselves as quite interesting investment projects. Therefore, a few words should be said about how to recognize such schemes.

Signs of a potential financial pyramid:

• A legend that does not provide a clear understanding of how the profit will be generated. Most of the simple Ponzi-type schemes are limited to general phrases that can be convincing only for those who do not have a deep understanding of the segment and financial service.
• Guaranteed return on investment. No one investment fund cannot guarantee success. If the organizer provides such a guarantee, there is a clear sign of a pyramid scheme.
• Aggressive marketing campaign. The task of the organizer of the pyramid is to attract as many investors as possible, therefore, the media, forums, social media- any channels where investors are convinced of the profitability of the project, but do not focus on the idea itself. Availability affiliate program, aimed at attracting as many customers as possible - another sign of the pyramid;
• Investment without concluding any contract.
• Fake licenses, no financial reporting, statutory documents, lack of information about the founders.

No one says that it is impossible to earn money on investments in pyramids, but an investor must soberly assess his risks and understand possible consequences. And in conclusion, we will answer the question of those who still doubt what Penenza is.

Why is Penenza about real investments and not about deceit?

Penenza is a crowdfunding platform that connects a borrower and an investor. This is a financial intermediary that earns a commission due to the fact that it allows you to quickly find those who want to invest money, and those who need this money. The principle of operation of the platform is clear and transparent: targeted loans legal entities, V personal account details and documents of specific borrowers are visible. The authorized capital of the company is 1.5 million rubles, and with registration documents it is possible. In this section you will also find a public offer and financial statements.

And a few more points that a potential investor needs to know:

• Penenza consists of working group at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which discusses the possibility and necessity of regulating the sphere of peer-to-peer lending.
• The platform has been in existence for 2 years. And during this period, auditors and regulatory authorities did not have any complaints about her work.
• Penenza does not guarantee profitability. The company only offers to earn about 20% per annum. This profit is the result of market analysis, which showed what conditions may be of interest to borrowers and investors with minimal risks. Having a unique scoring system, Penenza successfully competes with banks and microfinance organizations, minimizing the probability of a borrower's default;
• The investor receives all the information about the scoring results of a particular borrower. All borrowers are real companies, the existence of which can be checked in the registry, as well as contact their representatives personally.

Penenza is interested in professional investors who want to multiply their money wisely. If you have any questions - ask them to the platform representative in the chat on the main site. And good luck with your investment!

"Ponzi scheme" is the most common name for a pyramid scheme, which it received in honor of a real person. In 1920, Charles Ponzi created a scheme that allowed him to deprive thousands of people of their hard-earned savings.

Who is Charles Ponzi?

An Italian immigrant born in Lugo in 1882, Charles arrived in America almost bankrupt in 1903. For the next 15 years, he was a laborer and even went to jail for theft and falsification. In 1919, the charismatic Italian set up a business in Boston, offering investors the exchange of postal coupons and other securities. To attract investors, Ponzi issued IOUs in which his company pledged to pay 50% of profits in 90 days. Unable to cope with the financial burden, Ponzi began to pay the promised profit from the investments of new investors. After a preliminary journalistic investigation, the company's accounts were frozen and the scheme collapsed in 1920. The founder of the financial pyramid was arrested and later deported to Italy.

Despite the fact that the financial pyramid is called a "Ponzi scheme", the Italian was not the only and not even its first founder. In 1899 in New York, William Miller received money from investors in the amount of one million dollars, promising them an incredible return in excess of 500%.

What is a financial pyramid?

The "Ponzi scheme" works according to the rule "steal from Vanya to pay Petya." In each financial pyramid, the first investors receive the promised income from the subsequent ones. financial investments. As a rule, the source of income is disguised as a commercial or investment activity. One of the most infamous pyramid schemes is investment activities Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, who masterminded the biggest scam in history, costing investors $65 billion.

The scheme of the financial pyramid is quite well developed - investors are lured by high dividends, while their funds are not invested in any projects, but serve to pay interest to previous clients. The scheme is constantly expanding, the flow of deposits is growing like an avalanche.

At the moment when the costs of payments exceed the receipt of new funds, payments stop, and the organizers of the pyramid rapidly disappear with the money collected. If in Russia such a scheme is associated with "MMM", then in the USA it is called "Ponzi scheme". It was Carlo Ponzi who became the first known creator of such a structure in 1920.

The young man arrived from Italy in the USA in 1903 with no money in his pocket, but with great hopes. Having changed many jobs, Carlo managed to go to prison twice for forging documents and violating immigration laws.

Ponzi's finest hour was his discovery of the possibility of speculating on mail coupons with a profit of as much as 400%. The fact is that these securities could be sold all over the world at a single price of a few cents, and World War shifted exchange rates, and then there was a field for speculation.

Having learned about such a profitable venture, many of Carlo's friends and acquaintances joined him, collecting the necessary start-up capital. In 1919, the "Security Exchange Company" was registered, which sold and repaid promissory notes with a yield of 50% in just 90 days. In fact, payment could be received in a month and a half. The same coupons were declared the source of income, but the technology for making a profit was declared a secret.

Then everything went according to a well-known scheme - an investment boom arose, crowds of depositors rushed into offices to give their money. By the summer of 1920, deposits amounted to a million dollars within a week. Ponzi himself became a real rich man, giving numerous interviews and living in a luxurious mansion. It never crossed his mind to run.

Law enforcement agencies became interested in Carlo's activities, but the laws of that time did not allow him to stop his activities, especially since the businessman paid his bills on time. So, in the first eight months, almost $10 million was collected, about 80% of which went to pay depositors. About 10,000 people became Ponzi customers, as well as most of the Boston police.

When a revealing article appeared in the press in July 1920, panic set in, but Carlo somehow managed to pay off the first wave of creditors, receiving people's love and recognition. However, after only two weeks, the auditors announced a disappointing conclusion - Carlo Ponzi's firm is bankrupt. The legal income of the company amounted to only 45 dollars, and only 2 pieces of the notorious coupons were bought.

In the course of several lawsuits, five banks went bankrupt, and depositors got off relatively lightly, for every dollar invested, they were able to return 37 cents within eight years. Ponzi was convicted, after his release from prison he continued his career as a swindler, he was again imprisoned. Carlo Ponzi died in 1949 in Rio de Janeiro with a fortune of $75, which was just enough for his funeral.

This scheme has become very popular, as there will always be simpletons, greedy for quick and easy enrichment. In many developed countries, following the example of the United States, there is a strict state control above financial activities, so the repetition of such history is simply impossible.

However, scandals periodically flare up with the use of the scheme in one form or another. The pyramids went through the countries of the former socialist camp with a giant vacuum cleaner - from Albania to Russia. With the advent of the Internet, scammers have been able to offer their services to more people while maintaining their complete anonymity.

A feature of modern pyramid builders is still the desire to keep the stolen funds, if earlier Swiss banks were used for this, today more and more swindlers resort to the services of offshore companies, which become a sump for dubious companies. One of the clearest examples was the activity of the "First international bank Grenada". It was founded in 1998 by the preacher Gilbert Ziegler, who also presented himself as the ambassador of the non-existent state of Melchizedek.

The authorized capital of 20 million was contributed by a rare ruby. The bank offered gullible Americans from 30 to 250% per annum, while the activity financial institution She did not go beyond the island, because in America she would have to deal with regulatory authorities. Part of the money went to bribes to local politicians and auditors. There was even a fictitious insurance organization, which guaranteed the safety of deposits.

According to the bank's statements, its income in 1999 reached 26 billion, and its assets amounted to 62 billion, which put the bank on a par with the world's largest! The auditor, who suspected something was wrong, was suspended from activity, and the FBI information about the bank's dubious activities was ignored by the Grenada authorities.

But by the summer of 2000, the bank stopped paying, it turned out that the debts to depositors amounted to about 125 million, but only 900 thousand were returned, which was not even enough to pay the liquidation commission. And the ruby ​​that provided authorized capital did not exist in nature at all.

The banker-guide himself escaped safely. Although the Prime Minister of Grenada promised to restore order in the financial sector, in 2002 a new scandal broke out, the bankrupt Imperial Consolidated Group left behind debts already worth 300 million.

Today, under pressure from the United States and Western countries, offshore governments are fighting in every possible way for their financial integrity, there are a number of international commissions and organizations on capital laundering problems. But there is no guarantee that the "Ponzi scheme", having changed, will not appear in a new place.