Ponzi

[pon-zee]

noun

1. a swindle in which a quick return, made up of money from new investors, on an initial investment lures the victim into much bigger risks.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ponzi¹

After Charles Ponzi (died 1949), the organizer of such a scheme in the U.S., 1919–20

Example Sentences

Jamie Dimon, ever the mouthpiece for traditional finance, maligned the industry as a fraud, a Ponzi scheme and a collection of pet rocks, among other colorful descriptors.

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He knew something that others did not: that he was operating a Ponzi scheme.

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They had the essential feature of a Ponzi scheme: To maintain the fiction that they were profitable enterprises, they needed more and more capital to create more and more subprime loans.

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This is a fictitious Ponzi scheme.’”

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Qian is believed to have coordinated a Ponzi scheme, which pays out to investors using funds from new entrants.

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