From Charles Ponzi to Seçil Erzan

The Seçil Erzan case is no longer on our agenda. 

Everyone has given their testimony, and we have begun waiting for the court's decision. 

Seçil Erzan, using the name of the bank where she worked, defrauded many names ranging from Fatih Terim to Arda Turan, Emre Belözoğlu to Muslera, and Selçuk İnan to Volkan Bahçekapılı with the promise of a high-interest fund. 

The fraud system known as 'Ponzi' worldwide is known as a 'Chain of Happiness' (Pyramid Scheme) in our country. 

The first person to introduce the Ponzi system to the world was Charles Ponzi.

Ponzi was an immigrant who came to America from Italy in the early 1900s. 

He founded a company in 1920. He opened his first office in Boston. He wrote on his office window, "Make 50 percent profit in 45 days, 100 percent in 90 days." 

Because it promised such high profits, Ponzi's office began to overflow.

On the very first day, 15 customers deposited 870 thousand dollars with Ponzi. 

Within 6 months, the number of investors reached 40 thousand, and the money he collected reached 8.5 million dollars. 

Ponzi was supposed to direct the money he collected into investments. 

But what did Ponzi do? 

He began using money obtained from new investors to pay off old investors. 

There was no actual business being conducted. 

The investors did not know this. 

The continuation of the system was only possible with the arrival of new investors. 

What Ponzi was doing, which had attracted the attention of the press, began to be reported in newspapers as illegal. 

Investors became uneasy. 

When they wanted to withdraw their money, Ponzi's bubble burst, and the truth came to light. 

Ponzi was only able to pay back 10 percent of the money that came from investors. 

His end, like Seçil Erzan's, was prison. 

He owed investors 5 million dollars. 

Ponzi, who was responsible for 15 million dollars in fraud, had only 75 dollars in his pocket when he passed away. 

The Seçil Erzan case also showed that money cannot be made the easy way. 

Many names who were deceived by the promise of a fund fell into the trap of the Pyramid Scheme.  

Investors who thought their money was being evaluated in a fund became victims of high-profit returns. 

Seçil Erzan is accused of defrauding a total of 25 million dollars and approximately 16 million TL, and she is being tried with a potential sentence of 226 years in prison.

The Seçil Erzan case will be neither the first nor the last. 

Every investor should know that any investment that promises high profits the easy way is risky.