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Forward
Thinking Fred |
"We have found yet another example of
Cook's forward thinking and wide ranging brilliance that has
gone unrecognized, with credit for his pioneering work stolen by
Johnny-come-lately, Charles Ponzi."
| Texas oil lease attorney Dr. Sheldon
R. Heckapoop, Esq. |
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Webster's defines a Ponzi scheme
as 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. The word first appeared in usage in 1926, and
honors, according to Webster's, American (Italian-born) swindler
Charles A. Ponzi, died 1949. |
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In the early 1920's
Cook was up to this scam by paying "dividends" of 2% per month on
investments in his oil company that had virtually no oil
production. He did this all over the Midwest and Texas. His
naive clients literally gave their life savings to Fred
believing he would make them wealthy. |
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Fred or Ponzi?
Of course, Ponzi might have been up to his tricks well before
1926 also. This could be a case of independent co-invention,
like the discovery of calculus by Newton and Liebnitz.
Dr. Charles F. Douglas, October,
2000
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| "...The money you have
taken in—right now you—are holding money that belongs to poor
people all over the United States...
...every penny of it was robbed from
the orphans and widows and credulous old people; people in the
depth of poverty; people anxious to get money enough so as to
ensure a decent burial."
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