Even Warren invested in it 340MM. https://markets.businessinsider.com...ed-spending-dc-solar-owners-2019-6-1028256755 "The scheme allegedly involved the sale of mobile solar generators to at least a dozen investors including insurance giant Progressive, paintmaker Sherwin-Williams, and several regional banks, according to Bloomberg. The investors typically paid $45,000 of the $150,000 price tag for each of the units up front, then claimed a $45,000 tax credit on their investment as well as tax deductions for the devices' depreciation, according to court filings. Court filings revealed the Carpoffs' lavish spending during the time they ran DC Solar. A list of big-ticket purchases included: 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon — $105,682 1967 Ford Mustang GT 500 Super Snake — $192,550 2017 Cadillac CTS-V — $95,105 The Martinez Clippers, a professional baseball team — price unknown NetJets, which sells shares in private airplanes — $19 million Box in the Las Vegas Raiders' new stadium in Paradise, Nevada — $783,000 Diamond jewelry and Cartier watches — $500,000 The arrangement made DC Solar "appear successful, and the leases appear legitimate, when, in reality, leasing the equipment generated little income and early investors were paid from funds contributed by later investors," the federal complaint reads. The former employee also said the company inflated the number of generators deployed by having employees bury GPS devices in various locations, which could be passed off as generators in its tracking software, according to the filings." Nice....
I'd rank ponzi as a close second to rich widows as the fastest way to riches... get a scheme going, for a few cool mils, then go live on an island... all this trading stuff... hard work and all.... is for suckers..
Stories like that, on a tiny scale, surprises me, because of ones morals. ( morals of those, who do that ) That's why i categorize, all whom i know, personally, by how fair and justice their are. Few, real life examples, from conversations : ,, ...oh , we faked those tickets... '' ( retail shop owner ) ,, ...nah, i don't pay taxes for that... '' ( dentist ) ,, ...i sold him that crap and by the moment he realizes that, it will be too late... '' ( engineer ) - that's a, permanent, red flag for me , next to their name. Let's take the dentist, for example ; he avoids taxes, on a tiny scale, im sure, he will do the same,on a larger scale, once he gets the business support, from EU ( $400 000 ), to open his private clinic.
Well can't blame them. Mobile solar generators does sound like a good idea and if it's true, it is actually quite innovative. And there are legitimate mobile solar generators https://www.mobilesolarpower.net/. If I were an investor, I would've put in my investment especially if I can get tax deductions on them not just as a one-time deal but over the entire life of the investment too. It's a fraud scheme yes but the investors kinda transferred part of their losses to the government.
I think Ponzi should rank first before rich widows as the fastest way to riches. There is a lot of risks to rich widowing if you think about it and you don't get to enjoy the riches right away, the fruit of your labour after you are actually widowed and lot could happen before you are actually widowed and they are all risks. Your rich husband/wife can outlive you or you could fall sick yourself before him/her to the point that you can't enjoy your riches anymore, then you would've lost your entire investment, forever. Even after you are widowed, your rich husband/wife's own family can go after you and bar you from the riches. Your rich husband/wife can become poor and worse become poor and die before you were able to escape from the marriage leaving you with nothing but bunch of debts or your husband/wife could be a con artist (like a Ponzi scheme fraudster) and leaving you to deal with all the crap while he/she sits in a posh jail (like Bernie Madoff). Whereas in a Ponzi scheme, you get to enjoy your riches right away with no risk as it takes a long time for your gullible investors get caught on your schemes. By that time, you would've enjoyed riches, spent the money and the victims would have very little recourse to recuperate their losses. Even if you go to jail, that's just retirement for you; you would've already lived your life. No risk and all the benefits!
The best part of the story is that the business was completely legit, and it could have been ran profitably. But why make generators when you can just pretend that you made them? Most people don't know, but the original ponzi was based on a valid stamp arbitrage between Italy and the USA. But Charles never bothered to buy the stamps...
And a close second, because starting out early is a must: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...y-ran-fraudulent-hedge-fund-out-frat-n1014586 "The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a six-count civil complaint in a Georgia federal court last week alleging that between May 2018 and May 2019, Arbab sold investments in the hedge fund that never existed and spent some of the funds on liquor, hotels, Uber, gambling and a Las Vegas trip that included a stop at an "adult entertainment club." Arbab, 22, received at least $269,000 from no less than eight investors and transferred much of the money to his personal bank account, the lawsuit states."