Charles Ponzi

Charles Ponzi was an Italian con artist who became infamous for his namesake investment scheme in the early 20th century. In 1920, he lured thousands of investors in the United States with promises of high returns through the buying and selling of international postal reply coupons. Ponzi's scheme relied on continuously attracting new investors to pay returns to earlier ones, leading to his eventual arrest and the term 'Ponzi scheme' entering the financial lexicon. His fraudulent activities highlighted the vulnerabilities in investment systems and the importance of regulatory oversight.