HC In Search of History - Mr. Ponzi and his Scheme (1998)

It was a time when anything seemed possible–instant wealth, glittering fame, fabulous luxury–and for a run of magical weeks in the spring and summer of 1920, Charles Ponzi made it all come true. Promising to double investors' money in three months, the dapper, charming Ponzi raised the “rob Peter to pay Paul” scam to an art form. At the peak of his success, Ponzi was raking in more than S2 million a week at his office in downtown Boston. Then his house of cards came crashing down. A classic American tale of immigrant life and the dream of success, Ponzi's Scheme is the amazing story of the magnetic scoundrel who launched the most successful scheme of financial alchemy in modern history. In 1919, Charles Ponzi was down on his luck. The Italian immigrant had spent a decade and a half in the U.S. He was looking for a way to get rich and tried his hand at everything — including bookkeeping, sign painting, grocery clerk, dishwasher, and librarian. He caught a lucky break in August, when he received a letter from Europe. In the envelope was an International Reply Coupon, a clever way to prepay for international postage. Ponzi realized he might be able to use these coupons to make his fortune. All he needed was investors. What happened next made him a household name. This is the story of the man behind the eponymous Ponzi scheme — a tale of financial fraud that lives up to its linguistic legacy. Meet the father of the pyramid scheme, an Italian immigrant named Charles Ponzi, who in 1920 convinced 10,000 Bostonians that he could double their money in 45 days in his postal coupon enterprise. After collecting over S9 million, he finally served time. Upon release, he went to work for Benito Mussolini, whom he scammed as well! Mussolini evidently liked Ponzi's style and made him business manager of one of his pet projects, Latin Airlines in Rio de Janeiro. But following the war and Mussolini's death, Ponzi lost his job and his money. He died penniless in 1949, tended only by a nun.

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