There was a land rush in North Dakota because of the stuff in the ground. Fracking for shale oil turned towns around the Bakken oil field into boom towns. It takes people to run those rigs, so the local population swelled in size, resulting in a shortage of housing. Some of the housing was minimally … Read more »
Category: Ponzi Schemes
Pyramid Scheme or Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges against James Evans for engaging in a “Ponzi scheme.” The names of his scheme caught my eye: Cash Flow Bot and Dollar Monster. After digging around, I was puzzled as to what to call the scheme. A Ponzi scheme purports to be a real investment opportunity, but payouts … Read more »
Personal Foul Called on Athlete Lending Firm
A professional athlete’s cash flow can be choppy. As an ex-NFL player, Will Allen knew about the cash flow problems. He also realized that fans could be lured into being lenders to professional athletes. It looks like Allen miscalculated the amount of investor interest against athletes looking for loans. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged … Read more »
How Do You Exit a Ponzi Scheme?
It looks like Bernie Madoff was $45 billion short of funds in his “investment strategy.” How was he ever going to get out of this? The original Ponzi schemer, Charles Ponzi, seems to think he could get out of his situation, at least according to Mitchell Zukoff, author of Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of … Read more »
When a Real Estate Investment Empire Turns Into a Ponzi Scheme
Real estate investment is capital intensive. Most opportunistic and value-add real estate investments are not cash flow positive for the entire ownership of the asset. As some point, an investment may be using equity to pay outstanding interest on debt. The line between a ponzi scheme and long term investment can hinge on the nature … Read more »
What Was It Called Before Mr. Ponzi Did It?
When Bernie Madoff’s fraud was exposed it was labeled a Ponzi scheme. Madoff was not investing the money as promised. He was using new investment money to pay old promised returns. I thought it would useful to look back at the original Ponzi scheme to see if offered insight to today’s world of compliance. I … Read more »
The Fall of Sam Israel
Sam Israel is a scumbag. He is a liar and a cheat. He admits so in Octopus by Guy Lawson. Israel was the nefarious trader behind the Bayou Funds, one of biggest hedge fund ponzi schemes, at least until Bernie Madoff finally fell to Earth. Lawson met with Israel while Israel was in prison. He … Read more »
A History and Analysis of Con Artists and Victims: The Ponzi Scheme Puzzle
Professor Tamar Frankel of Boston University School of Law tackles investment fraudsters and their victims in her book, The Ponzi Scheme Puzzle. As a scholar of investment fraud, Frankel has studied cases for years to find common themes and patterns. The books offers descriptions of the offers and red flags the ways in which fraudsters … Read more »
Another Real Estate Ponzi Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission is claiming that Wayne L. Palmer and his firm, National Note of Utah, were operating a real estate-based Ponzi scheme that bilked $100 million from investors. U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins issued a temporary restraining order, froze the assets of National Note, and appointed attorney Wayne Klein as a receiver … Read more »
Was Full Tilt Poker a Ponzi Scheme?
The United States Government forced online poker sites to the fringes of the financial system. The U.S. government has long argued that online poker gambling is illegal under the Wire Act, a 1961 law that explicitly prohibits sports betting conducted over electronic communication. In 2006, Congress made it illegal for financial institutions to process funds … Read more »