Ponzi's Scheme_ The True Story of a Financial Legend - Mitchell Zuckoff [153]
Unknown to Hurwitz: Ponzi, pp. 119–20. Ponzi also did not name Abbott, but his account echoes Hurwitz’s throughout.
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Since arriving in Boston from Lithuania: Information about Simon Swig was obtained from the 1920 U.S. Census.
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he had alienated a large portion: “Action Taken to Protect Depositors, Shareholders,” Boston Globe, February 18, 1921, p. 1.
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Swig had tended to ignore laws: Annual Report of the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks 1921, pp. xlv–lix.
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Swig’s house was a prime example: Ibid.
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Ponzi thought Swig looked down: Ponzi, p. 97.
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Swig wrote Ponzi a caustic letter: “Ponzi Closes; Not Likely to Resume,” Boston Post, July 27, 1920, p. 1.
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Ponzi did as Swig asked: Ponzi, p. 129. Ponzi does not name Tremont Trust here, but his account generally fits with the information contained in Swig’s letter.
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Ponzi took the first step: “All Demands Met by Ponzi: Investigators Still at Sea,” Boston Daily Globe, August 3, 1920, p. 1. The date Ponzi hired McMasters is significant because McMasters has often been incorrectly credited, or blamed, for the story in the Post on July 24. In one of their rare agreements, Ponzi and McMasters both said McMasters had nothing to do with initiating that story, a claim made more plausible by the fact that McMasters would have had to arrange for a Post reporter to spend the day at Ponzi’s office and his Lexington home virtually within minutes of his hiring. Far more likely is that Richard Grozier and Edward Dunn had already assigned a feature story about Ponzi as a follow-up to the item about Daniels’s lawsuit.
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publicity man William McMasters: Obituary for William McMasters, Boston Globe, March 1, 1968; “Ponzi and McMasters Sue Each Other—Run Continued Today,” Boston Evening Globe, August 3, 1920, p. 1; Kenny, pp. 191–95; Beatty, p. 418.
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The remarkable result appeared: “Doubles the Money Within Three Months,” Boston Post, July 24, 1920, p. 1.
Chapter Twelve: “Money madness”
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The clear goal for Grozier and Dunn: “Ponzi Has a Rival Next Door to Him,” Boston Sunday Post, July 25, 1920, p. 1.
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A few pages past the report: Marguerite Mooers Marshall, “To Make Old Women Young,” Boston Sunday Post, July 25, 1920, p. 8.
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an item buried in the Boston Sunday Herald: Elizabeth Ellam, “Lawrence Mill Workers Have Money to Invest,” Boston Sunday Herald, July 25, 1920, p. 4.
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dashing undertaker Byron M. Pettibone: “Wife Took Overdose, Pettibone Defense,” Boston Daily Globe, July 27, 1920, p. 1.
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“a wizard of finance”: “Questions the Motive Behind Ponzi Scheme,” Boston Post, July 26, 1920, p. 1.
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The telephone began ringing: Ponzi, p. 148.
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“Every one of them”: Ibid., p. 148.
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“As a judge of the Juvenile Court”: “Questions the Motive Behind Ponzi Scheme,” Boston Post, July 26, 1920, p. 1.
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“Will you pose for us?”: Ibid.
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Ponzi and Leveroni strategized: “Questions the Motive Behind Ponzi Scheme,” Boston Post, July 26, 1920, p. 1.
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“none of them had either the courage”: Ponzi, p. 147.
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Perhaps my activities”: Ibid., p. 147.
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“Follow them everywhere”: Ibid., p. 147.
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he made arrangements to move: “Ponzi Closes; Not Likely to Resume,” Boston Post, July 27, 1920, p. 1
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“That Sunday was the busiest day”: Ponzi, p. 148.
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Clarence Walker Barron: Information about Barron was taken largely from a biographical sketch printed as a preface to the book They Told Barron: Conversations and Revelations of an American Pepys in Wall Street, Harper & Brothers, 1930, pp. xv–xxxiii. Also “Clarence W. Barron Could Dictate Four Letters at the Same Time,” Boston Post, October 7, 1928; “Boston News Bureau in New Building,” Boston Post, September 3, 1912, p. 14; “C. W. Barron, Publisher, and Associates Thus Celebrate 25th Anniversary,” undated newspaper clipping found in the files of the Boston Public Library.
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“No man of wide financial”: “Questions the Motive Behind Ponzi Scheme,” Boston Post, July 26, 1920, p. 1. All of Barron’s comments