While Bernard Madoff starts his 150 year residence at a federal prison in Butner, N.C., XenuTV1 (provider of the CNBC American Greed videos) reminds us that ponzi schemes are nothing new.
slatkinfraud.com 02/09/03: Reed Slatkin, ex-Scientology minister, who had a number of celebrity and high-profile clients, had portrayed himself as a shrewd manager and was an Earthlink co-founder, whose investments were outstripping the market, but prosecutors said he was actually running a Ponzi scheme.
His attorneys blamed much of his behavior on the influence of the Church of Scientology, of which he was a member and from where many of his victims came. ``There is no question that the hold the Church had on Mr. Slatkin was significant,’’ lawyer Brian Sun told the court. ``It took us a while to de-program Mr. Slatkin.’’
CNBC: American Greed [part 1-3]
Aired 02/21/08 - "My money's with Reed," Scientologists used to brag as the wunderkind investment broker returned high dividends for high-rolling Scientologists like Anne Archer and Greta Van Susteran. That was before it was discovered that Reed was actually perpetrating the biggest Ponzi scheme in history and donating much of his illegal earnings to Scientology.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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