10 of the Most Notorious Ponzi Schemes of All Time

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Ponzi schemes have been getting plenty of notice in the news lately. It seems these fraudulent activities are becoming more and more robust by the year. Most people don’t realize, however, that Ponzi schemes were around long before the twentieth century. These scams have netted billions of dollars over the years, and it’s partly thanks to the following financial ‘geniuses’.


Madoff with Lots of Money

Bernie Madoff pulled off the largest Ponzi scheme ever; netting himself $50 billion. According to www.pageperry.com, his scam was also the longest running since it lasted from the seventies to the nineties. He basically took money from people, falsified investment returns documents and then enjoyed the money himself. It seems a bit greedy coming from a man who was already rich beyond belief.

Everyone’s N’sync

Lou Pearlman was formerly the manager of the boy band N’sync. He began offering people hefty returns using his FDIC insured savings program. Unfortunately, he had no savings program, and it definitely wasn’t FDIC insured. He made over $500 million before being discovered.

Old Timer

Most people already think timeshares are a scam, but Michael Eugene Kelly proved it. Kelly got $428 million from elderly citizens by promising timeshares that would show huge returns. He then just simply spent the money on jets, yachts and even a racetrack. Over $136 million of the money he got came from retirement accounts, and many grannies were left without a nest egg.

Religious Offerings

Not all men of God are godly. Gerald Payne promised members of his congregation in Florida that he could double their money by investing in gold coins through him. These investments, of course, never occurred. Payne was only caught after cheating $500 million out of his followers. Most of this money was never returned.

Don’t Ya Just Haiti Ponzi Schemes?

A number of Ponzi schemes erupted in Haiti starting in the early 2000’s. Many of the scammers portrayed themselves as government supported cooperatives. They even got pop stars in the country to advertise their services, and this unfortunately made people feel safe to invest. The scams eventually netted over $240 million. This may not seem like much for a Ponzi scheme, but it was actually sixty-percent of Haiti’s GDP in 2001.

Before Ponzi Schemes were Cool

Sarah Howe figured out a quick way to make money in 1880. She began offering an investment known as a “Ladies’ Deposit” that promised an eight-percent return. She really didn’t make it too complex; she just took the money and ran. Most dastardly ladies these days at least try to be a bit less obvious.

The Scientology Scam

Many people think the religion of Scientology is a scam anyway, but even bigger scams have been related to it. Reed Slatkin, a Scientology minister, funneled millions of dollars from an estimated $593 million stockpile. Where did he get the money? He convinced famous and rich people that he was earning them money by forging financial statements. He was finally busted in 2000, but only after swindling several poor, defenseless innocent millionaires out of their hard-earned movie money.

Non-Profit? Yea Right

Damara Bertges and her partner created the non-profit organization ‘European Kings Club’ in 1992. They promised to help investors double their money by investing through them. After scamming about $1 billion, Bertges and her accomplice were arrested and sentenced to prison.

Ants in the Pants

Wang Fengyou, a Chinese ‘businessman’, started selling boxes of ants for around $1,500 in 1999. The idea was to have farmers raise these ants for a few months and then sell them back to Fengyou for a profit. Fengyou then used these ants to make an aphrodisiac. It all seemed too good to be true and was actually working out for the farmers until Fengyou stopped making payouts. This eventually led to his arrest after pilfering about $2 billion every year.

The Original Ponzi

The Ponzi scheme that Charles Ponzi pulled off was so huge that his name stuck to the act. He began promising people fifty-percent returns in the early twentieth century, and many of these people did receive those returns. This, however, was simply because Ponzi was paying old investors the money he got from new ones. After bringing in about $174 million, in today’s money, Ponzi’s scheme was discovered. He eventually escaped justice by fleeing to South America, where he died in poverty.

Ponzi schemes are a detriment to American capitalism, but they also affect many other places throughout the world. People who are caught in these illegal operations are often sentenced severely, but it stands to question how many people actually never get caught. Unfortunately, as long as people with money want more money, Ponzi schemes are likely to continue.

Bianca Ochoa is a freelance writer covering a wide variety of legal topics ranging from family to finance law. She is also a contributing author for the www.pageperry.com, a law firm specializing in representing clients who have been scammed by con artists to recover assets lost.