Ponzi Schemes and Ponzi Scheme Perpetrators: A Quantitative Analysis of Federal Level Ponzi Schemes

• In Event: White-Collar Crime Offenders

Abstract

The research examines Ponzi schemes that were investigated and brought to action civilly and criminally on the federal level from 1973 to 2016, in the United States. This includes data analysis of 1,068 Ponzi schemes and 2,370 Ponzi perpetrators. The Ponzi schemes were categorized and then measured in reference to the time they began. The primary research question examines those schemes found to have begun during the financial crisis of 2007-2010 in order to understand those which had been taking place all along and those which came to be Ponzi schemes out of legitimate business failures because of the declining economy. The secondary analysis has quantified characteristics of Ponzi perpetrators. This study compares demographics of age, gender, race, professions, sentencing and other qualities of the individual perpetrators. The quantification of Ponzi schemes and Ponzi scheme perpetrators presents a view of this specific White collar crime offering new insights into who White-collar criminals are.

Author

• Marie Springer, The Graduate Center, John Jay College / CUNY