Ponzi's Scheme_ The True Story of a Financial Legend - Mitchell Zuckoff [152]
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To get the ball rolling: “Ponzi Halts Loans at 50 Per Cent till Books Are Checked,” Boston Herald, July 27, 1920, p. 1.
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he quietly paid his debt: In re Ponzi, 268 F. 997 (District Court, Massachusetts, November 12, 1920).
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“There was absolutely nothing to it”: Ponzi, p. 128.
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“floating sample rooms for American products”: Ibid., p. 142.
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S.S. Cretic: A copy of the first-class manifest of the S.S. Cretic upon its arrival in Boston on July 9, 1920, was obtained from microfiche at the National Archives and Records Administration office in Waltham, Massachusetts. Also “Ask the Globe,” Boston Globe, September 14, 1991, p. 60.
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“castles in the air”: “Ponzi Tells How He Rose,” Boston American, August 9, 1920.
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Joseph Merenda: Merenda invested two hundred dollars on June 21, 1920; “Creditors of the Ponzi Enterprise,” Boston Post, August 27, 1920, p. 8.
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Ponzi opened his wallet: “Affecting Meeting of Ponzi and His Mother,” Boston Globe, November 24, 1922.
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“seventeen years since I have seen you”: “Grills Merenda at Ponzi Trial,” Boston Traveler, November 24, 1922, p. 1.
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“I made up my mind”: “Hope to End Ponzi Case Wednesday,” Boston Globe, November 25, 1922.
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rot undermining the roots: “J. C. Allen, Bank Commissioner,” undated clip from the library files of the Boston Globe; Wendell Howie, “Joseph C. Allen Resigns as Bank Commissioner,” Boston Transcript, May 11, 1925. Information about Allen was also taken from 1920 and 1930 U.S. Census data.
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a candidate far from the cloistered world: “Mirrors of Beacon Hill,” Boston News Bureau, September 30, 1922.
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pince-nez glasses perched on a handsome nose: The description of Allen comes from photographs in the library files of the Boston Globe.
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“quiet, dignified, immaculate, kind”: “Mirrors of Beacon Hill,” Boston News Bureau, September 30, 1922.
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a lousy golf game: Ibid.
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“I am new to this game”: Ibid.
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Allen called for an opinion: Annual Report of the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks, 1921, p. vii.
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a classic Boston pedigree: “J. Weston Allen Dies at Age of 69,” Boston Post, January 1, 1942, p. 1; “J. Weston Allen Funeral Today at Mt. Auburn,” Boston Globe, January 2, 1942; Mason Ham, “People You Ought to Know,” Boston Herald, October 23, 1929.
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He answered the bank commissioner’s inquiry: Annual Report of the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks, 1921, p. vii.
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On July 15, Hanover Trust officials reported: Ibid.
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The two Allens agreed: Ibid.; Albert Hurwitz, “The Ponzi Bubble,” Boston Herald Sunday Magazine, August 30, 1970, p. 15.
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meeting at the State House: Albert Hurwitz, “The Ponzi Bubble,” Boston Herald Sunday Magazine, August 30, 1970, p. 15; Ponzi, pp. 119–20.
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“I couldn’t very well stay away”: Ponzi, p. 119.
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his standard speech about International Reply Coupons: Albert Hurwitz, “The Ponzi Bubble,” Boston Herald Sunday Magazine, August 30, 1970, p. 15.
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“I was almost ashamed”: Ponzi, p. 119.
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Hurwitz was an immigrant: “For the Common Council,” Boston Transcript, December 9, 1905, pp. 5–7; Harry Schneiderman, and I. J. Carmin Karpman, editors, Who’s Who in World Jewry, David McKay Company, 1965, p. 434. Information about Hurwitz also was taken from 1930 U.S. Census data.
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Hurwitz respected the confidence and ease: Albert Hurwitz, “The Ponzi Bubble,” Boston Herald Sunday Magazine, August 30, 1970, p. 15.
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Ponzi’s impeccable fashion sense: Ibid.
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Hurwitz mildly challenged Ponzi: Ibid.
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declared they were satisfied: Ibid. In his description of the meeting, Hurwitz did not identify Abbott as his fellow assistant attorney general. However, it is reasonable to conclude that Abbott was his partner that day because the two were the only investigators from the attorney general’s office on the Ponzi matter at the time.
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