Ponzi's Scheme

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

Zoo, National Museum, Postal Museum, Smithsonian, Society & Culture, Art19, National Zoo, Tony Cohn, Natural History, Dc, Exhibits, Museum, American History, Exhibit, History Of The World, African American History And Culture, History, Washington, Air And Space, Pop Culture, The Smithsonian, Sidedoor, Science

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2020

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nearly 100 years ago, Charles Ponzi stumbled across a loophole in the international postal system and turned it into one of the most infamous scams of all time. This time on Sidedoor, we follow Ponzi from his early days until his epic downfall, and hear from a postal investigator trained to catch swindlers like Ponzi who continue to use the U.S. mail for nefarious purposes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.7	I'm Lizzy Peabody.
0:17.0	A few weeks ago I visited a Smithsonian exhibition that is built on crime.
0:30.0	This entire exhibit was paid for by the bad guys.
0:34.3	You've heard that old saying,
0:36.6	crime doesn't pay.
0:38.2	What is it in this case?
0:39.6	This is retired postal inspector Daniel Mahalco.
0:42.8	When we had cases where we had fines and forfeitures,
0:47.8	all that money comes to the postal inspection service.
0:50.6	He gave me a tour of the National Postal Museum exhibition called Behind the Badge, which he helped
0:56.2	curate.
0:57.2	I was with the Postal Service for 31 years, the last 26 years as a postal inspector.
1:03.2	The exhibition documents some of the famous ways people use the mail for crime.
1:08.6	And don't confuse Mahalco for a mailman.
1:11.2	After all, the Postal Inspection Service is a federal law enforcement agency.
1:15.9	And Mahalco definitely gives off a detective kind of vibe.
1:19.1	He has a gray mustache, a lapel pin, and when you look closely, you see it's actually a tiny badge.
1:25.0	We're just like the FBI, the DEA or Secret Service.
1:29.0	We investigate crimes that involve the post office, their employees, and involve the males.
1:35.5	If you think of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service as a band, the Postal Museums Behind
1:40.1	the Badge exhibition is like their greatest hits album with track titles including
	...

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