: an investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks
Examples of Ponzi scheme in a Sentence
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In its June 2023 complaint against Royal Bengal Logistics and its then-President Sanjay Singh, the SEC accused Singh of operating an affinity fraud and Ponzi scheme by lying to would-be investors about the profitability of the business, its use of investor funds and the source of investor returns.
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Ron Hurtibise, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2024
Prosper was selling more royalty shares on its wells than could mathematically exist, and May was mostly paying investors out of the pool of other people’s investments—a classic Ponzi scheme.
—Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
There are echoes of Linda’s fake investment company’s Ponzi scheme in the Graceland scam, but no evidence tying her to the Naussany foreclosure caper.
—Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 14 June 2024
The trick of any Ponzi scheme is that the returns look great, at first.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 25 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for Ponzi scheme 
Ron Hurtibise, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2024
Prosper was selling more royalty shares on its wells than could mathematically exist, and May was mostly paying investors out of the pool of other people’s investments—a classic Ponzi scheme.
—Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 3 July 2024
There are echoes of Linda’s fake investment company’s Ponzi scheme in the Graceland scam, but no evidence tying her to the Naussany foreclosure caper.
—Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 14 June 2024
The trick of any Ponzi scheme is that the returns look great, at first.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 25 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for Ponzi scheme
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“Ponzi scheme.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ponzi%20scheme. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
Ponzi scheme
noun
Pon·zi scheme
ˈpän-zē-ˌskēm 
: an investment swindle in which early investors are paid with sums obtained from later ones in order to create the illusion of profitability
Etymology
Charles A. Ponzi (ca. 1882–1949), Italian-born American swindler
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