Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is designed for the financial empowerment of girls. Parents who have a daughter below the age of 10 years can open a Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account in their daughter’s name at any nationalized bank or post office.

The central government is implementing many programs to financially empower women. These schemes cover women from different walks of life. Important schemes among them are Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.

Read more details about such women empowerment schemes in this article below:

International Women’s Day 2024: Today is International Women’s Day (March 8). The day is celebrated for the women and their hardships to the society and family despite societal pressure and opposition. Women have emerged triumphant with fewer resources. The central government has also helped them with many schemes to make them financially independent.

International Women’s Day 2024: Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is designed for the financial empowerment of girls. Parents who have a daughter below the age of 10 years can open a Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account in their daughter’s name at any nationalized bank or post office.

A minimum amount to invest is Rs 250 and a maximum to invest is Rs 1.50 lakh in a financial year. The interest rate is calculated at 8.2 percent and compound interest is added annually.

The term of this scheme is 15 years, and when the girl reaches the age of 21 years. The main purpose behind the scheme is that the parents should use this amount to raise her girl child or in her marriage.

It also gives tax benefits on deposits up to Rs 1.50 lakh in a financial year.

International Women’s Day 2024: Free Sewing Machine Program

The program is mainly aimed at women from rural and urban areas who belong to the economically weaker sections of the society. A free sewing machine is provided to women interested in sewing and embroidery.

Women between the ages of 20 and 40 can benefit from the free sewing machine scheme. There is one condition before applying this scheme that the income of the husband of the woman applying for the scheme should not exceed Rs 12,000 per month.

International Women’s Day 2024: Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Center provides a cooking gas cylinder to women from poor families. The scheme was started in 2016 to help women from poor families.

International Women’s Day 2024: Mahila Samman Savings Certificate

Mahila Samman Savings Certificate designed for women’s financial independence. It is available at a post office depot.

Women can deposit a minimum of Rs 1,000 or a maximum of Rs 2 lakh for two years. The scheme has an interest rate of 7.5 percent. Investors can withdraw up to 40 percent of the eligible balance one year from the date of account opening.

International Women’s Day 2024: Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is designed for pregnant women. It is also called a maternity benefit.

During pregnancy, women face problems such as malnutrition. The central government is providing financial assistance of Rs 6,000 to pregnant and lactating women.

The government deposits this money directly into the women’s bank accounts. In order to take advantage of this scheme, the condition is that the pregnant woman must not be younger than 19 years old.

In the first phase, Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000 in the second phase and again Rs 2,000 in the third phase will be given to the pregnant women under this scheme.

The last part of Rs 1000 is given to the hospital at the time of the child’s birth.

International Women’s Day 2024: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

The aim of this scheme is to reduce the decline in the number of girls and strengthen the position of women. It is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health, Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resources.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao program mainly focuses on the clusters in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Bihar and Delhi.

CUSTOMERS face a baffling list of supermarket schemes to lower the cost of a weekly shop.

Grocery giants are vying to win loyalty, with Morrisons the latest to price match groceries to discount chains Aldi and Lidl.

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Almost every store has also launched reduced prices for loyalty card members.

This month, food costs fell for the first time in more than two years, but a basket of shopping is still 30 per cent dearer than in 2021.

And with all these competing promotions, it can be difficult to work out which shop gives the best savings.

As our chart shows, while loyalty prices may be cheaper than regular ones, they aren’t always the best deal on offer.

For example, Sainsbury’s charges regular shoppers £2 for a nine-pack of KitKat bars, reducing to £1.65 with a Nectar card.

But Asda is cheaper than both at £1.50 without a loyalty discount.

Here, Laura Purkess explains the perks of each loyalty scheme and weighs up which supermarket offers the best value.

Asda

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IN January, Asda became the first supermarket to price match items to the cheapest of either Aldi or Lidl.

The pledge applies to 287 core household staples, including milk, bread and cheese, it said at the time.

The chain also launched its own rewards scheme in 2022 following a successful trial the year before.

The rewards scheme works slightly differently to rivals’. Shoppers earn cashback for buying “star products” or completing “missions” in-store.

Buying a star product earns shoppers ten per cent cashback, which is converted into Asda pounds and accumulates in a cashpot within the retailer’s Rewards app.

This can be swapped for vouchers to spend at the store.

There are currently 492 star products on offer, according to Asda’s website.

VERDICT: You need to download the app to sign up for Asda’s Rewards scheme and only a digital card is available.

The supermarket says its five million users earned a total of £295million in 2023 by completing “missions” and buying “star products”.

Morrisons

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WITH around 600 items price matched to Aldi, Tesco pips Sainsbury’s.

Staples including fruit, tea bags and bread are among the goods priced at the same level as the discounter.

Meanwhile Tesco’s Clubcard prices discount around 8,000 items at any one time, with reductions of up to 50 per cent, the supermarket says.

Shoppers also get one point for every £1 spent while using their Clubcard, although sometimes Tesco offers ­double points for a limited time.

Each Clubcard point is worth 1p to spend at Tesco, so 500 points is equivalent to £5 cash.

VERDICT: The More prices appear very thin on the ground compared to rivals and you’ll need to spend much more to earn £5-worth of loyalty cash.

Sainsbury’s

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SAINSBURY’S price matches more than 550 items to Aldi, which is consistently ranked the cheapest supermarket in the UK by consumer champion Which?.

The supermarket says the scheme covers essential items that “customers buy most often”.

Early last year it launched Nectar Prices – a rival to Tesco’s Clubcard Prices – which discounts 6,000 items.

The loyalty scheme saves shoppers an average of £12 on an £80 shop, according to the supermarket.

If you use the Nectar app, you can also get personalised discounts on top of the regular Nectar prices in-store.

Shoppers earn one Nectar point per £1 spend and each point is worth half a penny.

This is half the value of a Tesco Clubcard point, so you would need to collect twice as many points – 1,000 in total – to earn £5 to spend in-store.

VERDICT: Sainsbury’s is hot on the heels of Tesco, but its offering isn’t quite as good yet.

Co-op

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CONTROVERSIALLY, last month The Co-op ditched its points promo, where customers earned 2p per £1 spent, in favour of a Member Prices scheme.

Co-op members can now get cheaper deals on 300 essential products including milk, bread and eggs, with an average discount of 11 per cent, the retailer says.

Membership costs £1 and shoppers can also get exclusive offers like discounted meal deals and dine-in bundles.

The supermarket currently doesn’t price match any items to Aldi or Lidl.

VERDICT: It’s the only supermarket scheme that charges a sign-up fee but the nominal price can quickly pay off if you are a regular shopper.

Lidl

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THE discount retailer launched its rewards scheme Lidl Plus on its app in 2020 to give members weekly discounts on their favourite products.

The budget supermarket sends customers weekly coupons to use in-store, with some based on items that they ­regularly buy.

Each coupon is valid for one week. When shoppers hit a certain spending threshold, they can also get extra coupons, such as for a free item.

And users are entered into prize draws every time they shop using the scheme.

VERDICT: As you might expect from the bargain store, a great way to make regular savings on your favourite products.

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Does it pay to be loyal?

SHOPPERS with loyalty cards now tend to pay less than those without – but experts have warned that the schemes aren’t always as good as they seem.

Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at investment platform Bestinvest, says: “Loyalty schemes have already been accused of inflating regular prices for items before they are placed on offer to loyalty card customers.”

She says supermarkets used to offer price promotions to all customers, so the new loyalty prices simply penalise anyone who isn’t signed up.

Now shoppers should join as many schemes as possible so even occasional visits to a store don’t cost more.

Mrs Haine advises: “The best solution is to sign up to the schemes for every supermarket you visit so you don’t have to stay loyal to one.”

You can sign up with a throwaway email and don’t have to provide extra information like your phone number.

The best way to save is to ensure you are buying the cheapest version of whatever item you purchase.

Use a comparison site like trolley.co.uk to measure product prices and ensure you are getting the best deal on the market.

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HOUSEHOLDS are starting to run out of time to apply for simple cash schemes before closing.

The extra help, financed by the government's Household Support Fund, is distributed by municipalities and officially ends on March 31.

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However, several municipalities have set deadlines for this, so it is important to receive your application on time, otherwise you risk missing out.

How much you can get depends on where you live and your individual circumstances.

You will need to contact your local council to see what is offered and how to apply.

Here we round up the municipalities that have set deadlines for February and March.

Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth residents may be able to receive support from their local council for essential costs such as food and energy bills.

The municipality uses its share of the Household Support Fund to finance its Exceptional Hardship scheme.

The scheme provides support to households that are in serious financial difficulties and cannot afford basic necessities.

This is a one-off payment and registrations open on February 26th and will remain open until March 15th.

The amount of funding is limited, so residents are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

The council is also providing supermarket vouchers worth £150 to families with children who are entitled to free school meals.

You can apply for vouchers if the following applies to you:

• Living in Portsmouth City Council (PO1-PO6)
• Do you receive child benefit for a child aged 0 to 19 years, or are you at least 20 weeks pregnant?
• Did not receive an £80 voucher from a school for this child between November 2023 and January 2024;
• Have a total earned and unearned income (excluding benefits and tax credits) from the household of less than £1,500 in the last month (or £1,385 in the last four weeks if you pay weekly).

If you are unable to complete an online application or upload proof of your circumstances online, you can make a telephone application by calling the council's Home Support Fund helpline on 023 9268 8010.

You must submit your application by March 15, although the application may close earlier due to limited funding.

Kent County Council

Kent County Council is also inviting residents to apply for additional support through the Household Support Fund allocation.

If your application is successful, you will receive one prepaid card per eligible household that you can use for energy costs.

Applications must be submitted by February 29, but allocations will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

You are eligible for help if you:

• be 16 years or older
• Are you a resident of Kent and live permanently in one of the 12 local authorities covered by Kent County Council (this excludes Medway, Bexley or Bromley)
• Have a household income of less than £40,000 per year before tax, including all benefits and employment income
• Make sure you don't have more than $1,000 in savings, not including the money you've identified for paying regular bills
• Do not receive free school meal vouchers from your child's school for each child in your household during the school holidays
• Are responsible for your household's energy costs.

If you live in Kent and have a child in a family who qualifies for free school meals, you should have already received support, with schools already providing a £100 energy voucher per eligible child at the end of November. 2023.

Kent also has a Winter Household Support Fund which opened on January 9.

Eligible applicants will receive a £100 prepaid physical card or a virtual card to be spent towards utility bills.

The scheme follows the same eligibility requirements as above and residents must apply by February 29 to be eligible.

North Northamptonshire Council

North Northamptonshire Council is still rolling out its Household Support Fund allocation.

The municipality will provide a one-off benefit to those who qualify for assistance.

• A single person receives €150
• A married couple receives €260
• A household with three or more people receives €320

To qualify, residents must have a low income:

• For a single person €24,876, if you have a child this increases to €30,465
• For a couple €34,494, if you have a child, this increases to €36,123

It is also assessed how much you have saved:

• Single adults cannot have more than £4,704, £7,260
• Couples cannot have more than £7,116, £8,616

Residents can register until February 11.

Leicester City Council

Eligible Leicester City residents may be able to receive support for bills and essential food costs.

This is distributed via e-vouchers.

Some residents may also be able to get help with essential kitchen equipment and even rent it.

Eligible residents must not have received assistance from the municipality's previous distribution of government household support for living expenses.

Applications will reopen for the final time on February 24, but there is a limit of 300 applications, so you'll need to act quickly if you qualify.

Dorset Council

Dorset Council is rolling out the fourth round of its Household Support Fund and applications opened this week on February 6.

The council is providing vital help through £150 supermarket vouchers.

Eligible residents must:

• Pay council tax to Dorset Council
• Have an annual net household income of less than £30,000 and
• You have a savings amount of less than € 16,000 and
• Have not applied for a previous HSF benefit in the past six months (since August 2023).

If you miss this round, a new round will open on March 5, but this is the final round of funds and vouchers are subject to availability.

What other support is available?

If you are not eligible for the Domestic Support Fund in your region, you may still be entitled to additional support.

The third installment of living expenses arrived in bank accounts this week.

Those who qualify will receive a tax-free payment by February 22.

There's one week left to claim free energy bill vouchers of up to £1,700 from the Home Heating Support Fund.

In the meantime, you may be one of the thousands who still need to apply for the Warm Home discount, worth £150.

Or you may be eligible for a cold weather benefit worth €25.

Do you have a money problem that needs to be solved? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

You can also become a member of our new Sun Money Facebook group to share stories and tips and engage with the consumer team and other group members.

The Union Finance Minister announced the initiative in the Union Budget 2021-2022. Under this initiative, an additional borrowing limit of up to 0.5 percent of the GSP is available to the states annually for a period of four years from 2021-22 to 2024-25.

New Delhi: To ease the burden on state pension schemes, the finance ministry has given the go-ahead for an additional loan of Rs 60,877 crore to 22 states this year. This special relief, in addition to the usual 3% GSDP loan limit, is specifically meant for contributions to the National Pension System, which will help retiree government employees get their dues, according to a report by news agency IANS.

The Indian GSDP stands at Rs 8.59 Lakh Crore

The GSDP currently stands at Rs 8.59 lakh crore. The ministry has also approved raising Rs 6.99 lakh crore for open market loans and Rs 69,370.81 crore for availing negotiated loans during 2023-2024.

The Finance Ministry said it has also allowed additional loans to states equal to employers’ and employees’ share of its workers’ contribution, on top of the 3 percent ceiling. Earlier in June, the Center had approved additional financial incentives worth Rs 66,413 crore to 12 states for power sector reforms.

The Union Finance Minister announced the initiative in the Union Budget 2021-2022. Under this initiative, an additional borrowing limit of up to 0.5 percent of the GSP is available to the states annually for a period of four years from 2021-22 to 2024-25.

On Tuesday, the ministry said it had allowed additional loans of Rs 39,175 crore to 12 states in 2021-2022 and Rs 27,238 crore to six states in 2022-2023, linked to performance in the power sector. For the period 2023-2024, states are eligible to borrow Rs 1.43 lakh crore on the recommendation of the Ministry of Power.

(With input from agencies)

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “Ponzi scheme”? For most of us, especially in this day and age, the story of Bernie Madoff comes to mind. In even more contemporary times, your mind might run across a story like that of Sam Bankman-Fried, the now-disgraced founder of FTX who bilked billions from unsuspecting investors in a deeply complicated scam. Or perhaps if you’re a history buff, you’ll think back to Italian con artist Charles Ponzi, who was so prolific at scams and schemes back in the 1920s that he lent his name to the phrase we still use a century later.

But interestingly, there have been a million more Ponzi schemes carried out across history far beyond the well-known ones you are thinking of now. And in this list, we’ll take a look at a bunch of them. These ten Ponzi schemes will shock you for how brazen and bold they were—and make you thankful you didn’t lose any of your hard-earned cash in the process!

Related: Top 10 Hilarious Insurance Scams

10 The Julian Pete Oil Scam (1927)

The Julian Petroleum Corporation, commonly known as “Julian Pete,” was based in Los Angeles in the 1920s. It was making big bucks for its investors throughout those roaring years, but in 1927, it all came tumbling down due to large-scale fraud from within. All told, the Julian Pete scandal cost 40,000 investors in LA and around the country more than $150 million in lost money.

Julian Pete started in 1923 under the guidance of Courtney Chauncey “CC” Julian. And from the very start, when CC Julian began drilling for oil in the small town of Santa Fe Springs outside of Los Angeles, their proclamations were bold.

The company sought out investors by putting up billboard advertising that read things like “Widows and Orphans, This Is No Investment for You!” Other ads boasted, “My appeal is addressed to people who can legitimately afford to take a chance.” The investment promotions were so bold and brazen that the California Corporations Commission quickly began investigating CC Julian’s firm for fraudulent sales tactics. That was the least of the company’s worries, though.

In 1925, CC Julian sold the company to two businessmen named Sheridan C. “SC” Lewis and Jacob Berman (also known as Jack Bennett). Then, the following year, Julian Pete merged with another firm called the California-Eastern Oil Company. Problems surfaced in 1927, though, when a deep financial audit determined Lewis and Berman had issued more than 4.2 million unauthorized shares of stock on the Los Angeles Stock Exchange.

Not only that, the company had carefully created complicated financial pools involving more than 400 significant LA businessmen, including Hollywood honchos Cecil B. DeMille and Louis B. Mayer. Those pools supported the illicit issue of actually worthless stock, with the investment funds then loaned back to Julian Pete at high interest rates.

Eventually, a number of investors were charged with violating state usury laws, but the legal proceedings didn’t go anywhere. The company couldn’t survive the fallout, though. It shuttered for good in 1927—taking with it the hard-earned cash of those aforementioned 40,000 people just two years before the Great Depression set in all across the country.^[1]

9 The Match King Scheme

The Match King Scheme was a series of financial manipulations orchestrated by entrepreneur Ivar Kreuger in the 1920s. Kreuger was the founder of the Swedish Match Company. At first, he gained notoriety for his ambitious efforts to create a global matchstick monopoly. Kreuger’s strategy involved establishing matchstick monopolies in several countries. Then, he moved aggressively to consolidate them under his control.

In order to survive that rapid growth and attract new, unwitting investors, he used financial instruments and creative accounting methods to inflate the value of his companies and their stocks. Then, he started borrowing large sums of money to fund his new acquisitions and operations. One of the key elements of the scheme was Kreuger’s issuance of a vast number of bonds. Most of them came in the form of match company securities. These bonds were often backed by the revenues of his matchstick enterprises.

Kreuger’s financial empire grew rapidly, and his companies became some of the most widely traded stocks on international exchanges. It was all based on fraud, though. The bonds were worthless, and he was only taking larger, riskier loans to pay back old ones. In the early 1930s, the scheme collapsed.

The global economic downturn and the resulting financial instability exposed the vulnerabilities of Kreuger’s complex financial web. Then, while under investigation for his dastardly doings in 1932, Kreuger died under mysterious circumstances. His death would come to be officially ruled as suicide. Soon after his passing, investigations confirmed the extent of the fraud within the Match King scheme.^[2]

8 The London Capital & Finance Scandal

The London Capital & Finance (LCF) scandal unfolded in the United Kingdom in 2019. LCF was a company that offered retail investors mini-bonds, which are a common type of debt security. The company claimed to invest the funds raised from these mini-bonds in a variety of businesses that offered high returns.

However, LCF was not using the investors’ money as promised. Instead, it was using the funds for speculative ventures, including making risky loans to other companies within its group—and by 2016, those investments were faltering.

In January 2019, the government ordered LCF to cease marketing its mini-bonds and took steps to protect investors. Unfortunately, by then, many investors had already put their money into LCF. Then, when the company went into forced administration later that month, thousands of regular people faced significant losses.

In the end, nearly 15,000 UK-based bondholders were put at risk. Eventually, the nation’s government had to cough up more than 120 million pounds (nearly 150 million USD) to compensate them for being wiped out in the scheme.^[3]

7 The Greater Ministries International Church Scam

The Greater Ministries International Church Scam was a notorious financial fraud scheme that took place in the 1990s. Led by a man named Gerald Payne, the scam targeted unsuspecting Christians in the U.S. The fraud was conducted under the guise of a religious organization called Greater Ministries International Church. Payne and his accomplices presented the church as a legitimate religious institution.

After using religious rhetoric to gain trust, Payne and his co-conspirators promised church members and investors incredible returns on their investments. They claimed that the investments were divinely inspired and would yield miraculous profits. Payne even used biblical references to support his investment program, claiming the church’s investment strategies were based on scriptural principles.

In reality, the scheme operated as a classic Ponzi scheme. New investors’ money was used to pay returns to earlier investors. As it always does, that cycle continued until the scheme inevitably collapsed. Then, in 1999, Gerald Payne and several associates were indicted on charges of fraud and conspiracy.

Two years later, Payne was found guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and other charges related to the scam. He was sentenced to serve 27 years in prison for the fraud—and others involved in the scheme also faced legal consequences.^[4]

6 The Bennett Funding Group

The Bennett Funding Group was a company that got its start leasing out office equipment such as fax machines and photocopiers. It then sold securities to investors that were backed by the money coming in on those leases. Owned by Edmund “Bud” Bennett and his wife Kathleen, the company was in the hands of their sons by the 1990s.

Michael Bennett was the CEO of the firm, while Patrick Bennett served as the CFO. Things were far from right with their securities sales, though. In 1996, the Securities and Exchange filed civil fraud against the company and Patrick Bennett—and then things all came out into the open.

Patrick and associates within the company had been using funds from those securities investments to fund a lavish lifestyle. There was a gambling boat called the Speculator, high-priced outings to a New York casino, countless cash betting outings to New York’s Vernon Downs race track, cross-country visits to other casinos in Reno and Las Vegas, and even the purchase of a 70-foot yacht christened “Lady Kathleen.”

Under pressure from the SEC and now completely exposed, the Bennett Funding Group ended up filing for bankruptcy. The feds were able to recover more than $750 million in assets for defrauded investors after the filing. Patrick Bennett ended up being convicted in court and sentenced to 30 years in prison—which was later lowered to 22 years on appeal.^[5]

5 The Dwek Ponzi Scheme

Solomon Dwek was a New Jersey-based real estate developer who ran a legitimate business in the 2000s—for a while. Sadly, financial difficulties during the late 2000s in downtown real estate made him unable to repay loans taken out for his real estate ventures. So he resorted to a complex bank fraud scheme.

Dwek presented potential investors with fake real estate deals, complete with forged documents and impressive details. The investments were, in reality, part of the Ponzi scheme, and Dwek used new investors’ funds to pay returns to earlier investors. The scheme grew in scale, involving millions of dollars and numerous investors.

Dwek’s high-profile connections within the Orthodox Jewish community and his reputation as a real estate developer helped him gain the trust of many powerful and monied people. But in 2009, the scheme collapsed as the web of deceit became too complex to sustain. So, facing both bankruptcy and massive legal troubles, Dwek became an informant for the FBI.

For them, he agreed to help expose corruption and money laundering within the Orthodox Jewish community in New Jersey. As part of that FBI cooperation, Dwek kept posing as a real estate developer seeking investments for various projects. Dwek promised high returns on these investments. That enticed Jewish investors in his community to contribute substantial sums of laundered money.

Then, the FBI picked them all off for arrest using Dwek’s detailed informant info. In the end, the scandal had significant repercussions within the Orthodox Jewish community, as Dwek’s actions exposed major corruption. Many prominent community members—including several well-known rabbis—were caught.^[6]

4 The Great Salad Oil Swindle

The Great Salad Oil Swindle is undoubtedly one of the most bizarre scams on this list. Also known as the Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Scandal, this was a financial scandal that occurred in the early 1960s. It involved the manipulation of the commodities market through the fraudulent use of warehouse receipts for salad oil. Yes, salad oil!

Anthony “Tino” De Angelis was the key figure in the scandal. He owned Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Company and used the company’s warehouse receipts that held large, valuable quantities of salad oil waiting to be sold and shipped to secure loans. But the receipts were fixed; while the salad oil was actually in warehouses, the receipts represented more oil than what existed. Then, De Angelis used the inflated value of the nonexistent oil as collateral to obtain high-dollar financing from banks.

The scheme was uncovered in 1963 when investigators finally got access to the warehouses and found there wasn’t anywhere near the amount of salad oil and soybean oil in them that De Angelis had claimed. In turn, that shocking discovery caused significant financial losses for the banks and investors involved. The scandal had a notable impact on the commodities and futures markets, too, with soybean oil futures specifically crashing because of it.

Eventually, De Angelis’s deceit prompted changes in the way commodities are handled in order to prevent similar fraudulent activities in the future. Today, the Salad Oil Swindle is often studied as one of the major financial scandals of the 20th century. More than anything, it serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of financial fraud and market manipulation.^[7]

3 The Zeek Rewards Ponzi Scheme

Paul Burks was the mastermind behind the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme, which unfolded in North Carolina in the early 2010s. Burks founded Zeek Rewards in 2010. At the time, he presented it as an online advertising and penny auction platform. The kicker was that Zeek Rewards claimed to share its daily profits with investors who purchased VIP bids or “Zeek sample bids” and placed them in the Zeekler.com penny auction.

Participants were encouraged to invest money in Zeek Rewards by purchasing those VIP bids. They were then promised daily returns on their investments, with the rate of return depending on the number of VIP bids they bought. Participants were also rewarded for recruiting new investors, which created a multi-level marketing structure.

The SEC began investigating Zeek Rewards in mid-2012. They alleged the returns were not generated from the business operations but were instead paid using funds from new investors. In August 2012, the SEC filed an emergency action, shutting down Zeek Rewards and freezing its assets. They also accused Paul Burks of operating a $600 million Ponzi scheme. By 2014, Burks settled with the SEC, agreeing to pay $4 million in penalties—but the story didn’t end there.

Two years later, in 2016, Burks was criminally charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and tax fraud. Finally, in 2017, he pleaded guilty to the charges and admitted that Zeek Rewards was a Ponzi scheme.

In February of that year, Paul Burks was sentenced to 14 years and 8 months in federal prison. The court also ordered him to forfeit assets derived from the fraud in a bid to pay back investors. Sadly, many people suffered significant financial losses as a result of going all-in on Zeek Rewards.^[8]

2 Sue Sachdeva and the Koss Corporation

A Wisconsin woman named Sue Sachdeva was involved in a jaw-dropping financial fraud case involving her employer, the Koss Corporation, through the 2000s. Koss is a Milwaukee-based audio equipment manufacturer, and Sachdeva served as the company’s Vice President of Finance and Principal Accounting Officer. She made a high salary in her role, but that money wasn’t enough for her.

Instead, the doctor’s wife engaged in a wildly complex embezzlement scheme through which she misappropriated company funds for personal use via massive credit card purchases. To hide it, she manipulated the company’s financial records and diverted funds to her personal accounts. She did this by creating fictitious vendor accounts and generating fraudulent invoices. Then, she authorized payments from Koss accounts to these nonexistent entities—and paid off company credit cards with laundered money in complex transactions.

From 2004 through 2009, when she was caught, Sachdeva siphoned off more than $30 million of Koss corporate money. She purchased lavish gowns, dresses, jewelry, and other items for her home. She bought so much stuff, in fact, that she never even wore most of the things she illegally bought. It was all stored in warehouses and rental lockers with no clear purpose after being purchased.

Finally, in 2009, Sachdeva was confronted about the irregularities in the company’s finances, and the Feds came down hard. She ended up pleading guilty to six counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. In November 2010, she was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. She served six of those eleven years before being released to a halfway house and then on to freedom.^[9]

1 The Trendon Shavers Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme

Also known as the “Bitcoin Savings and Trust” (BTCST) scheme, this was one of the earliest instances of fraud in the cryptocurrency space. A man named Trendon Shavers, who operated under the online pseudonym “pirateat40,” orchestrated this fraudulent investment scheme in 2011 and 2012.

Shavers presented BTCST as a Bitcoin investment opportunity that promised high returns to investors. He operated a platform that claimed to engage in Bitcoin arbitrage. In that investing technique, profits were generated by exploiting price differences between different Bitcoin exchanges. Shavers attracted investors by promising a fixed interest rate of 1% per day, or approximately 7% per week. This offer was incredibly attractive when compared with the slow growth of traditional investment opportunities.

But instead of engaging in legitimate Bitcoin arbitrage as claimed, Shavers operated a classic Ponzi scheme. Early investors were paid returns using funds from new investors, which created the illusion of a profitable venture. Then, early investors were encouraged to reinvest their returns, compounding the apparent profitability of the investment.

Shavers provided little information about the actual trading activities or strategies, and over time, investors grew suspicious. Plus, the promised returns were unsustainable in any legitimate investment scenario—which this wasn’t.

In 2012, the SEC caught wind of the suspicious activities and launched an investigation into BTCST. They eventually charged Shavers with operating a Ponzi scheme and fraud. In September 2014, a US federal court found Shavers guilty of running a Ponzi scheme. He was ordered to pay over $40 million in fines and restitution to the defrauded investors. In 2016, he was also sentenced to spend 18 months in federal prison.^[10]