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Calling herself a financial agent, Sarah Emily Howe introduced the women of the greater Boston area to the Ladies’ Deposit Company, which potentially sounds a lot better than what it really was: a swindle. The Ladies' Deposit was a savings bank that promised women a very high interest rate on deposits – so high, it seemed to impossible. It relied on referrals, and Sarah used the deposits she collected from those new customers to pay the large returns she'd promised to early customers. If that sounds like a Ponzi scheme to you, you're right -- but it happened about 40 years before Ponzi, himself, tried it.

<p>Calling herself a financial agent, Sarah Emily Howe introduced the women of the greater Boston area to the Ladies’ Deposit Company, which potentially sounds a lot better than what it really was: a swindle. The Ladies' Deposit was a savings bank that promised women a very high interest rate on deposits – so high, it seemed to impossible. It relied on referrals, and Sarah used the deposits she collected from those new customers to pay the large returns she'd promised to early customers. If that sounds like a Ponzi scheme to you, you're right -- but it happened about 40 years before Ponzi, himself, tried it.</p>

Humans have always committed crimes. What can we learn from the criminals and crimes of the past, and have humans gotten better or worse over time?

Criminalia

Sarah Emily Howe and the Ladies' Deposit Company

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/11a69f01-83c2-4c41-8808-afcc0027bc2a/transcript