Bernard Madoff (Bernard L. Madoff Investments Securities LLC) – Loss estimated at $65 billion

It is considerated the biggest fraud of US history. Bernard Maddoff was born the 29th of April in 1938, in Quenns (New York). Born into a Jewish family, he gave up his studies in order to start his career as lifeguard on the beaches of Long Island. Bernard Madoff founded in 1960, at 22 years old, his own investment company, called Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, with only 5 000 dollars (won thanks to his job as lifeguard but also as installer of fire protections systems).  

Bernard L.Madoff Investment Securities LLC became one of principal investment firm in Wall Street. His two sons, Mark (44 years old) and Andrew (42 years old) and his brother worked with him. 

Bernard Madoff was very active in the National Association of securities Dealers (NASD), a self-regulatory organization specialized in stock-market. His company was one of the five most active companies in the development of Nasdaq and Bernard Madoff was for a time chairman of the board. This “self made man” had a  prestigious reputation and he was considered the major innovator in the world of electronic finance. 

During his career as a fund manager, hewas famous for his gift to get yields from 8 to 12 % per year regardless of market trends. However the fund accrued enormous losses so Bernard Madoff created a system pyramid-shaped of sales where he paid the interests of first investors with the capital providing by the last investors. 

Following the fall of financial markets at the end of 2008, some investors wishing to recover their funds made the system collapse. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S stock market regulator, announced that the group of assets were fictitious and the fraud amounts around $ 50 billion, making it the biggest fraud performed by only one man. 

In December 2008, Bernard Madoff was arrested by the FBI. His clients were banks, funds and big fortunes (Steven Spielberg). Among his investors, there are several French banks as Natixis, Société Générale. In 2009, the 71-year-old was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

Bernard Ebbers (WorldCom) – Loss estimated at $100 billion

Bernard John Ebbers was born the 27th of August in 1941 in Canada. He co-founded the telecommunications company WorldCom and worked as executive officer of that company. In 2005, he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy as a result of WorldCom's false financial reporting, and subsequent loss ofUS$100-billion to investors. The WorldCom scandal was, until the Madoff schemes came to light in 2008, the largest accounting scandal in United States history. He is currently serving a 25-year prison term at Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex in Louisiana.

Ebbers career took off when he got involved in the investment, acquisition and management of telecommunications companies in the 1980s. He co-founded WorldCom in 1995 and was named chief executive. The company soon acquired MFS Communications, Inc. Two years later, WorldCom made a successful unsolicited bid for MCI Communications, earning Ebbers fame and considerable wealth.


In 1999 Ebbers wealth was near $1.4 billion with personal holdings that included a 500,000 acre ranch in British Columbia, a 21,000 acre farm in Louisiana, 540,000 acres of timberlands in the South, and a minor league hockey team. Much of these holdings were backed by WorldCom stock holdings, and as the stock price declined, the WorldCom board of directors authorized loans to prevent him from selling his shares.
In 2002 began allegations of conspiracy and frauds, and Ebbers resigned from Worldcom. At that time a promissory note was written for 400$ million from Worldcom board. Later an investigation revealed accounting misstatements totaling $11 billion in inflated earnings. Ebbers was summoned to give evidence during the hearings in July 2002, and denied any fraudulent conduct.
In 2005 Ebbers was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy in the hardest case of fraud in US history before Maddoff case. The scandal caused a 180$ billion to the investors and the company was declared bankrupt. 
Bernard Ebbers is currently serving 25 years at a federal prison in Louisiana. He was married to Linda Pigott from 1968 until 1997; they have three daughters. He married Kristie Webb in 1999.

Charles Ponzi (Securities Exchange Company) – Loss estimated at $20 million

Charles Ponzi was best known for the financial crimes he committed when he conned investors into giving him millions of dollars, and paid them returns with other investors' money.

The details of Charles Ponzi's early life are difficult to verify. It is believed, however, that he was born in Parma, Italy, and attended the University of Rome La Sapienza.

Ponzi arrived to Boston in November 1903 aboard the S.S. Vancouver. He later told the New York Times that he gambled away most of his money on the travel to America. "I landed in this country with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes, and those hopes never left me." The young immigrant’s charisma and confidence would help him pull off one of the greatest financial schemes in history.

Ponzi started out working at odd jobs, including as a dishwasher in a restaurant. In 1907, he moved to Montreal, where he found a job as a teller at Bank Zarossi. The bank was formed to file the new Italian immigrant population, charging high interest rates.

He was imprisoned for three years in Quebec because he was caught red-handed falsifyin the signature of a client of Bank Zarossi. He was impriosoned again in 1911 in Boston because of a smuggling case with italian migrants.

Ponzi Scheme

Everything began when he received a letter from a spanish company that contained an international reply coupon (a coupon that can be exchanged for a number of priority airmail postage stamps from another country). Ponzi realized that he could turn a profit by buying IRCs in one country, and exchanging them for more expensive stamps in another country.

Not satisfied with running the profitable scheme on his own, Ponzi began to seek investors to turn even higher profits. He promised investors outrageous returns of 50 percent in 45 days, or 100 percent in 90 days. Ponzi paid these investors using money from other investors.

He took in $20 million in a few months, equal to $222 million in current dollar values, and six banks crumbled.