I see no one mentioned Bernie Madoff here. While he wasn't the one who came up with this scheme, he is remembered as the single most successful ponzi schemer in our history. He had a stock brokerage firm and offered to trade for clients and give steady returns, and for a long time - probably several decades - he came through, so much so that people kept recommending his services to their acquaintances - but through all that time, he was just running a ponzi scheme. He was prosecuted in 2009 and he claimed he started the scheme in the 90s, but investigations suggest he actually started a decade, or even two, earlier. It's a fascinating - and somewhat mortifying - story.
He died in prison not long ago.
He died in prison not long ago.