Greatest Ponzi schemes that fooled millions

Ponzi scams Steve Sorensen

Ponzi scams have a lot of mechanics in common, but the most telling sign is the high returns in a small amount of time. Over the decades, there have been thousands of shady deals that have fooled millions of people out of their hard-earned money. Perhaps the promise of easy money was too good to pass. Besides financial literacy, people should really understand how investment works. If not, they could easily fall for a many number of scams circulating in the US. To help understand these scams better, here are some of the minds behind greatest Ponzi schemes ever pulled off. Steve Sorensen.

 Scott Rosthstein

Rothstein embezzled over $1.2 billion by attracting thousands of investors. Once a respected lawyer from Florida, Rothstein is currently serving a 50-year sentence for his crimes. His scam lasted for years which enabled him to live an ultra-lavish lifestyle. Steve Sorensen

Allen Stanford

The tale of Allen Stanford is a comical story where an ordinary person pretends to be the heir to a renowned business. Stanford conned people into believing he was the son of Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University. He used this identity to funnel money from investors to private banks in Antigua. He and his surname are currently serving a 110 year sentence for the theft of over $7 billion. Steve Sorensen.

Bernie Madoff

Madoff made off with over $65 billion through his elaborate Ponzi scheme which was the wealth management arm of his business. He became famous for developing the NASDAQ and was the founder of the Wall Street firm Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC. What made Madoff’s Ponzi scheme effective was the way he teased the margins. The returns weren’t so high that people would get suspicious. And to keep this image of wealth, he never reported any losses from his companies or the scheme. His sentence was 150 years in prison. Steve Sorensen

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