Ponzi Scheme
The mainstream media have been full of news of the most gigantic financial fraud in history. It was essentially a giant ‘Ponzi’ scheme, an arrangement whereby great financial benefits were allowed to a carefully chosen client base, paid for by a continuous inflow of new money from new investors. These were hoodwinked into joining the scheme by its apparent success. These unfortunate people paid for the false sense of security and temporary Life of Riley of those already in the scheme.
The fraudster in charge got away with it for years by managing to appear totally trustworthy all the time he was manipulating the books so that they passed superficial inspection, allowing him to stay ahead of the game. Many very astute people were taken in by his restrained manner and well-honed image as a careful and successful investor of their money.The fraudster did this by mixing with the right people and saying the right things to his gullible audiences.
Things went well for the fraudster for a long time while the benefits paid for by the inflows of new cash kept coming, But as tends to happen, his ability to keep up appearances collapsed when the inflows of new money disappeared when some people became nervous. They had begun to realise that the fraudster had been buying a good lifestyle and popularity for himself his family and his friends and their friends and relations from abroad with his clients’ money, and very little else. He was well and truly exposed for what he was – an arrogant incompetent, but a polished liar. Everyone with money in the scheme lost a lot of it.
But amazingly, many of his clients still think that the fraudster is wonderful! They believe his claim that the collapse of his scheme had nothing to do with him, It was all the fault of foreign banks which let him down by not going on lending him all the money he needed. And he is still at the head of his failed organisation because he has the chutzpah to say ( and these fools who believe him) that he is the only one with the experience to get his clients out of the mess! Also, he has arranged things so that favoured clients and their friends and their foreign relations continue to get the benefits they enjoyed at other people’s expense, even though it might mean that if he cannot borrow the required amounts (which everyone will have to pay back sooner or later), he might actually have to resort to printing money to do it. These favoured clients and their friends, friends of friends and relations are numerous enough to keep him as Managing Director at the General Meeting, or so it seems.
Yes! its Gordon Brown and the New Labour government. The greatest scam in history – buying popularity, votes and a good lifestyle for your favoured clientele with other people’s money. A wrecked economy with no wealth -producing assets except the family silver (most of it already sold off to pay pressing creditors), real estate and discredited financial services. And this man swans along in the opinion polls as if nothing had happened. A lengthy jail sentence awaits a big – time fraudster. If there was any justice, Brown should be behind bars , But is he? Who was it who said, if you tell a lie, make it a big one?….
D. Henshall
