Ponzi scheme
A fraudulent scheme where earlier investors are paid with the money taken from new…A fraudulent scheme where earlier investors are paid with the money taken from new investors, giving the impression that the scheme is a viable investment.
» The whole thing turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.
Die ganze Sache entpuppte sich als Schneeballsystem. — al_ex_an_der
CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 sensesA fraudulent scheme where earlier investors are paid with the money taken from new investors, giving the impression that the scheme is a viable investment.
but see Schneeballsystem, Ponzi-System
Examples
3 sentencesThe whole thing turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.
deDie ganze Sache entpuppte sich als Schneeballsystem. — al_ex_an_der
This Ponzi scheme defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars.
This is a Ponzi scheme.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
Named after con artist Charles Ponzi (1882–1949), who famously conducted such form of frauNamed after con artist Charles Ponzi (1882–1949), who famously conducted such form of fraud in North America in the 1920s.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: Ponzi schemes| Singular | Ponzi scheme |
|---|---|
| Plural | Ponzi schemes |
regular
Synonyms
1 synonymsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.