Charles Ponzi (March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949) was an Italian businessman and con artist in the U.S. and Canada. His aliases include Charles Ponci, Carlo and Charles P. Bianchi. Born and raised in 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 United States as a form of arbitrage. In reality, Ponzi was paying early investors using the investments of later investors, a practice known as "robbing Peter to pay Paul." While this swindle predated Ponzi by several years, it became so identified with him that it now bears his namesake. His scheme ran for over a year before it collapsed, costing his "investors" $20 million.
Charles Ponzi was born Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi in Lugo, Italy, in 1882. He told The New York Times that he had come from a well-to-do family in Parma, Italy. He took a job as a postal worker early on, but soon was accepted into the University of Rome La Sapienza. His friends considered the university a "four-year vacation," and he was inclined to follow them around to bars, cafés, and the opera.
Fraud and fairer society
its been a widescale attack on the poor since 2005 , 11 years of making the weakest in society pay the price for bankers greed causing worldwide recession ,
ive given up on ever getting justice , all the facts are there re how much tax evasion goes on how little benefit fraud there actually is ,
do the media and the politicians think that being silent will mean they can get away with it ?
no justice but there is us and when i see the growth in those wanting a fairer society i have hope