A money laundering system named after Charles Ponzi, an Italian immigrant who spent 10 years in jail in the U.S. for a scheme that defrauded 40,000 people out of $15,000,000.

Ponzi’s name became synonymous with using new investors’ money to pay off prior investors.

Shape Ponzi schemes involve fake, non-existent investment schemes in which the investors are tricked into investing on the promise of unusually attractive returns. The scheme operator can keep the operation going by paying off early investors with the money from new investors until the scheme collapses under its weight or the promoter vanishes with the remaining money.