Customer Reviews

Need and Greed: The True Story of the Largest Ponzi Scheme in American History

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FASCINATING STEP-BY-STEP INSIGHT INTO A FAMILY OF HIGH SOCIETY WANNA BE'S & THE DEPTHS OF OUTRIGHT BUSINESS FRAUD TO WHICH THEY WENT TO REACH THE TOP.SOME ACCOUNTS OF ACTUAL SKULLDUGGERY WHICH WAS A LITTLE BIT MUCH FOR ME BUT STILL HIGHLY READABLE.THE INSIDERS VIEWPOINT IS LIGHTENED CONSIDERABLY BY SOMETIMES AMUSING AND SOMETIMES SARDONIC CHAPTER HEADINGS.TOUCHING POIGNANT FINISH.

The author does a commendable job of making what could have been a dry story of a financial scheme rather entertaining and very fact-filled. As the General Counsel and corporate Secretary for the fraudsters, the author's claims that he was an unwitting dupe ring hollow, however. This is a fascinating story of thousands of greedy people...some simply greedier than others. At the top of the list was Patrick Bennet, his family, and the indicted co-conspirators. Further down the "Greedy List" are the bankers, the accountants, the lawyers, and the "investors" who allowed their greed to overcome the fear and common sense. There ain't no free lunch grandma...you taught me that your self. Stop crying and eat your cat food.

In what could have been one of the most fascinating stories in US history, the reader instead is mired in a convoluted and confusing rendition of the Bennett family's rise to power and position on the backs of trusting investors. As one integrally involved in the unfolding story, Mr. Weisman would appear to have been in a position to illuminate not only the methods and means by which the largest Ponzi scheme in US history took place, but also the very character of the principals involved - a seemingly ordinary family living in a small city in Central New York. Instead the reader is treated to a frequently disjointed and, at times, self-serving story line which has one asking "how did I get here" and "how does this relate to anything?" As a product of the sixties, it has been a long time since I have seen the word "kharma" used with such frequency in print. I wish mine had told me to wait for the paperback edition.