as in pyramid scheme
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Recent Examples of Ponzi scheme
Critics of Social Security have long compared the pay-as-you-go structure to a Ponzi scheme, in which early investors are paid with money from later ones.
—
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 13 Mar. 2026
Ari Lauer pleaded guilty in October 2025 to 23 counts of fraud in the case of DC solar, a Benicia company that served as a front for a nearly $1 billion Ponzi scheme that duped major corporations and sophisticated investors including Berkshire Hathaway chair Warren Buffett.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 10 Mar. 2026
He was charged in 2013 with tax fraud for filing an incorrect return tied to a Ponzi scheme operated by another man.
—Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today, 10 Mar. 2026
But in reality, there was little legitimate demand for the generators, prosecutors said, and instead the company used money from new investors to make payments to earlier investors — a classic Ponzi scheme.
—Aldo Toledo, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for Ponzi scheme
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 13 Mar. 2026
Ari Lauer pleaded guilty in October 2025 to 23 counts of fraud in the case of DC solar, a Benicia company that served as a front for a nearly $1 billion Ponzi scheme that duped major corporations and sophisticated investors including Berkshire Hathaway chair Warren Buffett.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 10 Mar. 2026
He was charged in 2013 with tax fraud for filing an incorrect return tied to a Ponzi scheme operated by another man.
—Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today, 10 Mar. 2026
But in reality, there was little legitimate demand for the generators, prosecutors said, and instead the company used money from new investors to make payments to earlier investors — a classic Ponzi scheme.
—Aldo Toledo, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for Ponzi scheme
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Ponzi scheme
pyramid scheme
Noun
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Consumers were then recruited to join a pyramid scheme that sold credit repair services to others, costing them millions.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
25 Mar. 2026
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There’s, in fact, a lot of narrative chaos in the movie’s last third, from a pyramid scheme that ruins Junyang’s professional ego to the fact that Lydia, once she’s given birth, is basically cut out of the picture.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ponzi scheme.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Ponzi%20scheme. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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