Ponzi

Named after con artist Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) who notoriously ran such type of scam.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒnzi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑnzi/
• Rhymes: -ɒnzi

Ponzi (not comparable)

1. (finance) Pertaining to a scheme whereby investors' returns are paid for directly by later investors' investments, giving the false impression that the investment is viable.
   • 2012 March 8, “Fraudster jailed for Britain's biggest Ponzi scam”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Officers, who say he [Kautilya Nandan Pruthi] was Britain's most prolific Ponzi fraudster "by some way", fear that only around £2m will be returned to his victims.

Ponzi (plural Ponzis or Ponzies)

1. A Ponzi scheme.
   • 2010, Nico R. Willis, Death of the American Investor, The Emergence of the New Global eShareholder, page 28:

     Based on the media's portrayal of these Ponzies, at the end of the day, it seems as though these villains had zero concern about what they were doing to their clients.

   • 2011, Go Pal, Politics of Convenience! Upset the Balance of Power, page 24:

     There are as many Ponzies and greedy people that have infinite time and resources, knowledge, freedom and the greatest of all, The Purpose!

   • 2023, Ben Armstrong, Catching Up to Crypto, page 67:

     To be fair, degenerate gambling and poorly designed Ponzis have consumed some corners of the crypto market, […]

Ponzi (third-person singular simple present Ponzies (very rare), present participle Ponzying, simple past and past participle Ponzied)

1. (informal, intransitive, uncommon) To introduce or perpetrate a Ponzi scheme style scam.
   • 1920, Rotary Club of Minneapolis, “Today's Meeting”, in The Tribunette‎^[2], volume 7, number 29:

     Harry then ponzied over on Rotarians, the slickest scheme in high finance that has ever been witnessed by the organization.

   • 1992, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations, The BCCI Affair, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, First Session · Part 6, page 710:

     Senator KERRY: Lending and ponzying and scheming and defrauding and buying illegally and doing all these things, correct?

   • 2009, P. L. Reynolds, The Ten Commandments, a Common Man's Opinion, page 71:

     There was a man, very "smart", who ponzied his way to billions of dollars.

   • 2023 July 20, David Shasha, “The Pride of Lakewood: Trumpscum Jew Sewer Rat Alan Dershowitz, Paid Friend of Ponzi Scheme Recidivist Eli Weinstein”, in Sephardic Heritage Update‎^[3] (Usenet):

     In late August 2022, Weinstein revealed his true identity to the Tryon owners in a secretly recorded meeting, Sellinger said. In another recorded August 2022 meeting, Weinstein admitted to embezzling Tryon investor money and making false statements about the alleged Optimus deals. Weinstein acknowledged that he was conducting a Ponzi scheme, stating, “I finagled, and Ponzied and lied to people to cover us,” Selinger said.

2. (informal, transitive, uncommon) To deceive someone by promising false investment returns that are funded by the proceeds of a new victim.
   • 1999, Jack Heselov, Politics, Money & Shtick, page 24:

     About 6,000 California investors did—and got "Ponzied" out of their money.

   • 2020, William Ian Miller, Outrageous Fortune, Gloomy Reflections on Luck and Life, page 10:

     Never mind that the losers outnumber them and that their losses are greater than the winners' gains; the losers discover that in effect they got Ponzied.

Patronymic surname from the personal name Ponzio.

Ponzi m or f by sense

1. a surname originating as a patronymic

• Stefano Ravara (2015–2026), Mappa dei Cognomi‎^[4]

• pinzo, pinzò