Full Exposure
August 11, 1920, was the first of two extraordinarily bad days for Charles Ponzi, though they had been coming for some time. The ongoing campaign of The Boston Post to expose Ponzi began delving into his dubious past, in particular to the activities in Montreal which led to his first jail term. For the first time, the Boston public – and Ponzi’s investors – were made aware that they were dealing with a convicted fraudster.
On the same day, Joseph Allen, the bank commissioner, seized control of the Hanover Trust on the grounds that many irregularities had been discovered in its operations. This was particularly bad for Ponzi, who had been planning to use the cash in the bank’s vaults as a last resort if all else failed.
