This seems a little unfair to Charles Ponzi. He was emulating the practices of Banco Zarossi, the bank where he got his first good job. Maybe it seemed like a normal accepted business practice to him.
He told his investors the money would come from postal stamp arbitrage. He’d really found an arbitrage opportunity, albeit one it was hard to cash out. Maybe he really thought he’d be able to make those kinds of returns, and then just never went back to check once the money started rolling in.
It’s not obvious to me that he consciously formed an intent to deceive. Maybe he was fooling himself too.
This seems a little unfair to Charles Ponzi. He was emulating the practices of Banco Zarossi, the bank where he got his first good job. Maybe it seemed like a normal accepted business practice to him.
He told his investors the money would come from postal stamp arbitrage. He’d really found an arbitrage opportunity, albeit one it was hard to cash out. Maybe he really thought he’d be able to make those kinds of returns, and then just never went back to check once the money started rolling in.
It’s not obvious to me that he consciously formed an intent to deceive. Maybe he was fooling himself too.