An Education in Montreal
After a time on the east coast of America, Ponzi decided to try his luck north of the border and moved to Montreal, Canada. He already spoke Italian and English, and soon learned French in order to better fit into Quebec society. His charm and language skills allowed him to find employment at Banco Zarossi, which had been set up by Luigi Zarossi to meet the needs of the growing community of Italian immigrants.
Ponzi started as a teller before being promoted to manager. Unfortunately, Banco Zarossi was in bad shape and Luigi was using the money from new deposit accounts to meet the interest payments to more established investors. The bank ultimately failed and Luigi fled to Mexico, but Ponzi had already seen enough to plant a seed in his head.
