Bernie’s Ponzi Scheme
Most analysts, particularly litigators, believe Bernie began operating a Ponzi scheme
much earlier than 1991, the year he claimed during his sentencing trial. Some date
it as early as the mid-1960s.16 Ponzi schemes are named after a scheme developed
by Charles Ponzi. In 1920, Ponzi promised to double the money of investors within
forty-fi ve or ninety days if they invested in a complicated security that only he knew
how to manage. However, he never invested the money. Instead, he deposited their
money into his bank account and paid investors the promised return using new investor
income. His scam was uncovered within a year. Investors who withdrew their
funds early earned a large profi t, while those who had not withdrawn money lost
their investment.
A successful Ponzi scheme requires a network of trusted co-conspirators. In
1975, Annette Bongiorno, hired 10 years earlier at age 19 as Bernie’s secretary, recommended
her Queens neighbor, Frank DiPascali, Jr., an 18-year-old recent high
school graduate, for a job assisting Bernie’s investment advisory business. DiPascali
quickly advanced to managing Bernie’s computer systems. DiPascali and Daniel
Bonventre, originally hired seven years earlier as Bernie’s auditor, created fraudulent
records to verify trades that never occurred.
Unlike Ponzi, Bernie owned a successful and legitimate brokerage firm. He used
the activities of his booming brokerage business to shield his fraudulent activities.
The computer software program developed by Bernie’s brother determined optimal
trades within four seconds.17 Clients visiting the brokerage company observed a
great deal of trading hustle-and-bustle that generated tremendous profi ts. Bernie’s fraud was a rather simple scheme. Assume a client, promised a 20
percent annual return, gave Bernie $1 million to invest on January 1. Bernie deposited
the client’s money in his own bank account. As more clients invested over the
course of the year, the amount in Bernie’s bank account grew. If the client decided
to redeem the entire investment on December 31, Bernie wrote the client a check for
$1.2 million from the company’s bank account. Then DiPascali and several loyal investment
fund employees fed price data from the previous 12 months for stocks, options,
and Treasury Bills into a computer to derive a long list of trades that indicated
a $200,000 profi t. DiPascali mailed these documents and fi ctitious trading tickets to
the client as supporting evidence.18
Why would potential clients trust Bernie? Investors are drawn to successful fund
managers trusted by others. Bernie had a long track record of successful investing,
and was at the forefront of the computerization of stock trading. He served on SEC
advisory committees, held a four-year elected term on the NASD Adviser Council,
and was elected as non-executive chairman of NASDAQ.19
In addition, people were drawn in by Bernie’s personality. He was quiet yet charismatic
and did not boast about his fi nancial success. Bernie exhibited a strong sense
of family, loyalty, and honesty, and did not drink alcohol. Elderly clients treated
Bernie as a son, peers treated him like a brother, and younger clients treated him like
a friendly uncle.
Bernie also played hard to get. When approached by potential investors, Bernie
typically told them his investment fund was closed, having reached its peak capacity.
Then he’d re-contact them and offer a huge favor by reopening the fund just
for them. For all these reasons, having Bernie manage their money became a status
symbol.
Flush with cash, Bernie opened a London office in 1983 to attract European
investors. But that was not his only reason: the London office would play a key role
in his money laundering operation. Bernie and his co-conspirators deposited client
investment money in Bernie’s New York City Chase bank account and then transferred
the money to his London bank account, creating the appearance of investing
in London-based securities. He then transferred the money back to his personal
Chase bank account.