Bernard Madoff, former NASDAQ Chairman
The money manager operated the largest Ponzi scheme in history. He founded Madoff Investment Securities in 1960. His clients were major banks and Hollywood stars. Later Bernard Madoff helped to launch the Nasdaq stock market. His pyramid scheme was exposed during the financial crisis of 2008. HSBC, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander, etc were victims. Madoff swindled $65 billion and ended up getting sentenced to 150 years behind bars.
Bernard Ebbers, co-founder and former chief executive of Worldcom
The former physical education teacher first founded but then ruined one of the leading US telecom companies. Long Distance Discount Services Inc. (LDDS) began operating in 1984 and was renamed WorldCom in 1995. It became the second largest telecom firm in the United States. Later WorldCom acquired companies with the value much higher than its own. Ebbers made fictitious financial statements to cover up huge losses and then quitted the company. Currently, he is serving a 25-year prison term.
Allen Stanford, chairman of Stanford Financial Group
The famous American financier was also hit by the 2008 crisis. In 1990s Allen Stanford founded Stanford International Bank, an offshore bank based in Antigua. At the same time, he took over Stanford Financial Group, his family business. He stole $7-8 billion from investors by selling fraudulent certificates of deposit. Allen Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in jail.
Kazutsugi Nami, chairman of L&G
The Japanese businessman had extensive experience in fraudulent schemes. In 1970s, Kazutsugi Nami was vice president of APO Japan Co., a company that was a Ponzi scheme. The company went bankrupt in 1975. In 2000, Nami founded bedding linen company Ladies & Gentlemen (L & G) that promised investors would earn a 9% dividend on every 1 million yen invested. He also collected funds by issuing the firm's own Enten quasi currency. Over the period of 7 years, about 40,000 investors put into L&G from 126 billion yen to 200 billion yen ($1.4-$2.24 billion). The scam was disclosed and the financier was arrested.
Sergey Mavrodi, MMM creator
The famous Russian scammer defrauded 10-15 million people of their money. In 1994, he established the company later recognized as a financial pyramid scheme. He set his shares value by himself and promised annual returns of 1,000%. As a result, he earned an amount almost equal to Russia's budget. MMM's scheme collapsed and Mavrodi was put on trial. The trial lasted until 2007. Five years ago the fraudster tried to revive MMM, but the new financial pyramid did not exist long.
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