Ponzi's Scheme_ The True Story of a Financial Legend - Mitchell Zuckoff [146]
107
He was pleased that the transaction: Ponzi, p. 72.
108
“We are all gamblers”: Ponzi, p. 76.
108
a point of never directly soliciting: Ponzi, p. 75.
108
Someone knocked on the door: “Ponzi Wins Avowal of Confidence,” Boston Post, November 1, 1922, p. 9. Also Ponzi, pp. 75–76.
Chapter Eight: “A small snowball downhill”
111
thirty-two-year-old Giberti: Information about Giberti’s life, including his date of immigration and his family, comes largely from the 1930 census; he was not counted in 1920.
111
Giberti’s net worth: “Ponzi Wins Avowal of Confidence,” Boston Post, November 1, 1922, p. 9.
112
A shiver of panic: Ponzi’s feelings during his meeting with Giberti come from Ponzi himself; see Ponzi, p. 75. Giberti also offered an account of their first meeting in court testimony. See “Seek Flaws in Testimony of Giberti,” Boston Traveler, November 2, 1922, p. 1. Also “Ponzi Wins Avowal of Confidence,” Boston Post, November 1, 1922, p. 9.
112
“I was selling my dollars at about sixty-six cents”: Ponzi, pp. 75–76.
113
a total of $1,770: “Ponzi in Sharp Cross-Examination,” Boston Globe, November 6, 1922. Also Ponzi, p. 76. An accountant for Ponzi bankruptcy receivers, Charles Rittenhouse, claimed that Ponzi paid only 40 percent interest during his first three months in business. Ponzi, however, maintained that he always paid 50 percent. In those first three months he took in just over seven thousand dollars, or less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the total.
113
Giberti put up only ten dollars: “Seek Flaws in Testimony of Giberti,” Boston Traveler, November 2, 1922, p. 1.
113
a pivotal moment in the career: This passage might be open to interpretation and dispute, but it is based on a careful reading of Ponzi’s actions before, during, and after his scheme. Among the significant elements in considering him overly impetuous and ethically challenged but not a premeditated swindler are small yet telling details such as his claiming only his watch at the pawnshop (see below). Later, he makes even clearer the absence of intent to follow the fly-by-night path of William Franklin Miller by purchasing his Lexington home, canceling his planned visit to Italy, and bringing his mother to the United States.
114
returned to Uncle Ned’s pawnshop: “Ponzi Pawned Watch, Rings to Get Start,” Boston Sunday Herald, August 15, 1920, p. 1.
115
just four hundred dollars: “Ponzi Tells His Story,” Boston Evening Transcript, November 27, 1922, p. 1.
115
a Massachusetts bureaucrat named Frank Pope: “Ponzi Has a Rival Next Door to Him,” Boston Sunday Post, July 25, 1920, p. 1.
116
skeptics would doubt Sarti’s existence: Ponzi first mentioned Sarti during his 1922 trial, and his existence was never proved. Indeed, prosecutors at Ponzi’s 1925 trial informed the jury that no evidence could be found that a Lionello Sarti had entered the United States in Boston, Portland, or Philadelphia, though Ponzi objected that the search was far from exhaustive and should not be limited to those ports. See “McIsaacs to Testify for Ponzi,” Boston Traveler, November 28, 1922, p. 1. Also “Coakley on Stand, Believes Ponzi Was Solvent,” Boston Globe, November 28, 1922, p. 1; “Denounces Ponzi . . . as Embodiment of a Lie,” Boston Globe, November 30, 1922; “State Rests in Ponzi Case,” Boston Globe, February 21, 1925. Ponzi does not name Sarti in his autobiography but provides a description of his supposed deeds that fits with trial testimony. See Ponzi, p. 81.
116
“Each satisfied customer”: Ponzi, p. 76.
116
$5,290 in new investments: Monthly investment totals come from the federal audit that led to the closure of the Securities Exchange Company and were evidence at Ponzi’s 1922 trial. Also “How the Bubble Grew,” Boston Evening Transcript, November 6, 1922, p. 24.
116
sum came from the life savings: In re Ponzi, 268 F. 997 (District Court, Massachusetts, November 12, 1920). Also “Ponzi Named Dead