The Year of the Ponzi

By Lisa Rab Wed., Dec. 23 2009 at 4:39 PM

Categories: Crime, Listy Lists

Scott Rothstein is allegedly South Florida'a latest Ponzi king.

In 1921, Charles Ponzi began duping New Englanders with a bogus postage stamp investment scheme. He told them that by buying and selling foreign stamps -- yes, stamps -- they could see 40 percent returns. Instead, he simply took their money, and doled out a little cash to early investors to make the scam seem legit.

At the time, he never could have imagined how popular his trick would be. Or how, in South Florida nearly a century later, it would become the fraud de jour.

So in honor of Ponzi, here's a salute to some of the headline-grabbing schemes
that have collapsed since December 2008:

1. Bernie Madoff, the infamous Palm Beacher, ran one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history, involving an estimated $64.8 billion.

2. Scott Rothstein, the Fort Lauderdale attorney, allegedly ran a $1 billlion investment scheme.

3. Joel Steinger, whose Fort Lauderdale company Mutual Benefits Corp. exploited AIDS patients to run a life insurance scam.

4.George Theodule, formerly of Wellington, targeted fellow Haitian-Americans in a $23.4 million investment scam.

5. Abner Alabre, Brian Taglieri, and Ronnie Bass Jr., of Miramar and Jupiter, allegedly defrauded hundreds of Haitian-American investors.

Tags:

Madoff, Ponzi scheme, Rothstein

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it's good to read a blog made by someone with similar views to mine. can I subscribe to the blog?
I've just looked at your page here and noticed that your header area on the upper area is just a black square. Is it supposed to look like that? Good site though.
This has been really interesting but how do I bookmark this? I tried Digg but do I have to sign up first?
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
I lived in someones horrible ponzi scheme on a much smaller scale - except it is on the verge of taking my home away anyhow... Only you can decide the Truth from the Story. When you are finished enjoying this story you can read all the chapters before it at http://everythingiswenderful.blogspot.com/2009/12/who-are-we-truth-to-story.html Is this the story of how by trusting too much in all the wrong things I ended up homeless on the streets or the story of the Sweet Smell of Success for knowing through living in honesty, integrity and trust that after all these years I�ll find my career in telling only the Truth in the Story? Only you can decide the stories ending! Please pass this along to all of your friends if you believe I deserve my happy ending! Much Love and Respect to everyone who in Sharing my Story share with me with the Opportunity to make my Living through my Writing! Thank you for all your help�..not I�ll let you decide� ~ Wenderful
Steven Knowles of Trope & Trope witnessed his own father blow his brains out with a hand gun when he was only 13 years old. Nicole Kidman hired Steven when she divorced Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise was so pissed Nicole cheated on him, he wanted his expensive jewelry he had just given to her returned. Steven is a drunk driver, a sexual deviant, a pedophile. Why would Nicole hire such a pig? What does Steven know about family values? Not much. In fact, he has the same family values as Matthew Miller, attorney to the stars!!!!
Hey, is that a Kreiss sofa that fat pig is sitting on? The Kreiss family is an organized crime family operating under the RICO Act. They are a Florida based company, just like Hutchings Automotive Products. Why do businesses like these pick Florida to base their companies??? Because it used to be "Bush" country!! Let's hope Obama cleans the state of Florida from top to bottom before the new year!!!!!
I GUESS IM FIRST