You Can't Cheat an Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes and Pyramid Frauds Work and why They're More Common Than Ever

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Silver Lake Publishing, 1998 - 354 páginas
This book takes an investigative look at the reasons why Ponzi schemes and pyramid frauds are thriving today. It closely examines why over 100,000 Americans are suckered into the schemes every year. Using dozens of memorable case studies, from Charles Ponzi's original scam in the 1920s to the elaborate New Era philanthropy fraud of the 1990s, the book scrutinizes the mechanics behind these deceptive plots. It considers the underlying factors, financial and psychological, that pump life into the scams. It also takes a close look at regulatory rules and other legal issues. Most importantly, it describes the modern variations that perpetrators and swindlers use to sell their schemes. Tips are offered to detect schemes and respond when they occur. The book aims to educate consumers and make them aware of how financial scams work.--From publisher description.

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Páginas seleccionadas

Contenido

Loneliness Fear and Desperation
167
Contemporary Variations Chapter 14 Multilevel Marketing
183
Faith Religion and New Age Gurus
203
Charities and NotforProfit Organizations
217
www ponzischeme com
231
What to Do if Youve Been Scammed Chapter 18 Make Friends with the Regulators
243
Go After the People Who Got Money Out
257
Go After the Lawyers and Accountants
273

Affinity Scams
101
Why the Schemes Work Chapter 9 Trust
117
Greed
131
Family Ties
149
Secrecy and Privacy
155
Go After Banks and Financiers
287
Fight Like Hell in Bankruptcy Court
305
Conclusion The Mother of All Ponzi Schemes
319
Index
322
Derechos de autor

Términos y frases comunes

Pasajes populares

Página 245 - ... (1) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud, (2) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading...
Página 245 - ... did not know, and in the exercise of reasonable care could not have known, of such untruth or omission...
Página 245 - ... by means of a prospectus or oral communication, which includes an untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading...
Página 72 - Investment adviser" means any person who, for compensation, engages in the business of advising others, either directly or through publications or writings, as to the value of securities or as to the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities, or who, for compensation and as part of a regular business, issues or promulgates analyses or reports concerning securities...
Página 245 - .'It shall be unlawful for any person, by the use of the mails or by any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce or of any facility of any national securities exchange or...
Página 24 - ... whether the efforts made by those other than the investor are the undeniably significant ones, those essential managerial efforts which affect the failure or success of the enterprise.
Página 315 - ... (ii) was engaged in business or a transaction, or was about to engage in business or a transaction, for which any property remaining with the debtor was an unreasonably small capital; or (iii) intended to incur, or believed that the debtor would incur, debts that would be beyond the debtor's ability to pay as such debts matured.
Página 292 - Has such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters that he is capable of evaluating, alone, or together with other purchaser representatives of the purchaser, or together with the purchaser, the merits and risks of the prospective investment...
Página 6 - ... They were all of one class, actuated by the same purpose to save themselves from the effect of Ponzi's insolvency. Whether they sought to rescind, or sought to get their money as by the terms of the contract, they were, in their inability to identify their payments, creditors, and nothing more. It is a case the circumstances of which call strongly for the principle that equality is equity, and this is the spirit of the bankrupt law.
Página 315 - ... received less than a reasonably equivalent value in exchange for such transfer or obligation; and (B)(i) was insolvent on the date that such transfer was made or such obligation was incurred, or became insolvent as a result of such transfer or obligation...

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