EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s often said that the script of Ponzi schemes does not vary much from case to case. The “story” below could be told by any number of Ponzi scheme figures. Although the words below are made up, the “story” is based on a Ponzi figure currently in the news. After you read the tale, click on the link at the bottom to see whose tale it is.
Here, now, the story of a schemer . . .
The records of my two arrests were hard to find — and I didn’t tell anybody. I was afraid that, if word got out, people might think I was a criminal and not do business with me.
I learned how to pull off my scheme by paying attention to earlier schemes I’d heard about. The banks? They didn’t have a prayer against me; I paid people commissions to bring me business and advertised a higher interest rate. People naturally reinvested their profits to earn more money. It truly was as simple as that. (And don’t let anybody tell you differently.)
People always want to believe. My clients were only too happy to help spread the good word about me. They called me a genius and got their friends and family involved. I didn’t even have to pay for the ads! The word spread like wildfire. I became the toast of the town.
It was odd, really: I hadn’t been the toast of my own household prior to getting my idea for the scheme. No one previously had associated me with money because I had none to speak of. Then — all of a sudden — everybody associated me with huge amounts of money. I had the magic touch. It happened practically overnight.
A reporter started digging around. I filed a lawsuit against him. You always can get the reporters to back off when you file a lawsuit.
Or so I thought.
Early on, I got one reporter off my trail. Hit him where it hurt. Made him spend money. I pretty much put him on the shelf.
But it turned out there was another reporter, one who didn’t care how much money I had or how many lawyers I could hire with my money. This reporter didn’t back off. He came up with a number while he was reporting: 160 million. It’s the number that contributed greatly to my demise.
Not right away, mind you. I hired a PR flak to spin my story. Beyond that, I spun my own story. I was a salesman. My job was to snow the snowman. I bobbed and weaved. I snowed. I put the investigators off for a while by pretending to be forthright and cooperative. I knew that my clients did not want to believe I was a thief. Some of them stuck with me even after the news broke.
My PR flak eventually turned on me. So did the government — federal and state. I didn’t quit, though — not even after I got caught. I got caught again in Florida. Moved offshore for a while. Got caught there, too.
For a while, I served as my own attorney. Part of me wishes I hadn’t done that — but, what the hell: I always enjoyed a good show.
Click here to learn who I am.