Charlotte North Carolina is on the map when we learned about a Ponzi scheme. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed an emergency action charging Wynn Charlebois with operating Ponzi scheme. That was a busy day on May 19th in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Allegedly, Charlebois defrauded at least 75 investors in Charlotte and other areas. He was used multiple bogus investment opportunities that seemed appealing to investors. These investors were supposed to share in the profits earned by participating. He reminds us of Bernie Madoff who is considered a fraudster and financier. Bernie ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion.
Background: A Ponzi scheme to lure investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Ponzi is named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi. His thing was leading victims to believe that profits are coming from legitimate business activity. In every Ponzi scheme investors are unaware that other investors are the source of funds. Words to the wise; if something seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t.