6. Putting in Place

Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) excelled in human greed and created a scheme of white-collar crime commonly referred to as the Ponzi scheme. “The ingredients of a Ponzi scheme are very simple. You have to get enough people interested in putting money into whatever investment you are promoting by promising them whirlwind profits.”1

1. See Gerber (2007).

Bernard Madoff (b. 1938) once held an honored position as chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, but was charged in 2008 with perpetrating the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single individual. Madoff’s chosen device was the Ponzi scheme.2 In contrast, businessman Reinhard Siekaczek (b. 1951) preferred to use bribery to satisfy his greed. Siekaczek managed a subsidiary ...

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