A Showman to the End
“I went looking for trouble, and I found it,” Ponzi told reporters as he was deported on October 7, 1934. Back in Italy, he tried a few more unsuccessful schemes before moving to Brazil to work as an agent for the Italian airline, Ala Littoria. It was in a Rio de Janeiro hospital that he died on January 18, 1949, having suffered poor health for many years after a heart attack in 1941.
In his final interview with an American journalist, Charles Ponzi offered no remorse, but pride in how he had entertained and captivated the world. “Even if they never got anything for it, it was cheap at that price,” he said. “Without malice aforethought, I had given them the best show that was ever staged in their territory since the landing of the Pilgrims! It was easily worth fifteen million bucks to watch me put the thing over.”
