Complex sentence: His investors lost about 20 million in 1920 dollars (225 million in 2011 dollars); as a comparison, Bernie Madoff's similar scheme that collapsed in 2008 cost his investors about 10 billion dollars, 40 times the losses of Charles Ponzi's scheme.
Split into simpler sentences: His investors lost about 20 million in 1920 dollars (225 million in 2011 dollars). As a comparison, Bernie Madoff's similar scheme cost his investors about 10 billion dollars, 40 times the losses of Charles Ponzi's scheme.