Exposing Charles Ponzi

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The name Charles Ponzi immediately recalls the financial scheme that bears his name. But what of the man who helped expose Ponzi's scheme? Today on the show, the incredible, little known story of Simon Swig, who upended Boston's financial and banking world in the early 20th century before crossing paths with the notorious scammer.

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Charles Ponzi's scheme

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:02.2	This is the Indicator from Planet Money.
0:13.8	I'm Waylon Wong.
0:15.1	And joining us today is a very special guest, founding producer of the indicator, Darius Raffion. Welcome back, Darius.
0:22.8	Thanks, Waylon. Great to be back. And you have brought us something super cool today.
0:26.9	That's right. As journalists, we so often these days are finding stories on Google or TikTok.
0:32.9	But today, I am thrilled to be able to bring you something that every journalist dreams about.
0:39.3	A great story that I heard in a bar.
0:44.2	The first time I ever heard the story, it almost stopped me in my tracks.
0:48.1	That's Kent Swig. He's a New York real estate developer and a friend of mine.
0:50.9	And we were out recently at a bar in the financial district.
0:54.3	And Kent suddenly turns to me and says, hey, you know my great grandfather uncovered the first Ponzi scheme, right?
0:57.0	Right.
0:57.3	This is a great story.
0:58.7	He was talking about Charles Ponzi, the creator of the scheme that gave its name to all
1:03.5	the others, the father of all fraudsters.
1:06.5	The very same.
1:07.4	And when I heard this story, it sent me down a rabbit hole that included hundreds of
1:11.7	newspaper clippings, personal letters, court documents, and a pretty charming anecdote about
1:16.8	Ella Fitzgerald. So today on The Indicator, we bring you the untold story of Simon Swig. He's the
1:22.5	radical people's banker who upended the stodgy world of Boston politics helped expose the first major financial fraud
1:29.8	of the modern era and was ultimately destroyed for it.
	...

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