The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-07-29
.P0NzI IS PAYING
 BILLS
Boston Wizard Gives
 Out a Million Dollars
 in a Day to Those With
 Claims Story of His 1, Life Reads Like a Book :, of Fiction-Tells How Z He Got His Great Idea.

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 Boston, July 29-Three investiga- ftions of the foreign exchange wiz srdry'' which has enabled Charles Ponzi to have +s1s,ooQ,Ooo in banks, If his story is true, were under way today.
 Governor Coolidge directed the state attorney general to investigate in conjunction with the federal and county district attorneys, Ponzfs sys-. lsem of changing American money inte ydepreciated foreign money, buying in 1ernatonal reply coupons and re- deeming them in stamps. It is this yprocess, Ponzi says, that has enabled him to double investors money in go days.
 ' His sSHeam of money from invest 1ors having been interrupted pending Enquiry into his methods, Ponzi con tinued to repay clients todaq. Yes terday he paid out more than S1,- DOC, 900 and served coffee and sand witches besides He claims he is IsoIvent and points with pride to the with sa.50 and until a year or so aga twas earning $1S 8 week
 This Is Ponzfs story of how 1t hap pened:
 For the time being,'' he said, 'I have ceased operations. Whether I lHhall continue. to be sure, remains to be seen. There is no law forbidding bmy continuing. The United States government may make a ruling that will hurt my business. but if I can mot go on as I am shall go on in the usual manner of the ordinary banker and broker. At the outside I lowe $3,000,o00. I could meet three fimes that amount this minute. But Net me explain myself.
 'The idea which you refer to as the fgreat idea and which really is not great, came to me last August. It icame because was thoroughly awake and on the lookout for the main chance. Are not you also doing fjust that. what I had a scheme to start an export publication, a pamph- Elet or periodical dealing with the smost ordinary export and import Itrade. I wrote to a man in Madrid basking him certain things that I had fto know about exports. and in reply n received an international coupon, which was to exchange here in the Limited States for United States post iage stamps and these stamps I was to emy magazine,
 Perhaps you do not know about these coupons. They are simply in hernational postal reply coupons. One ibuys thenS for cents in ones own tcountry and sends them to a corre- lspondent in another country. You do khis if you desire to render the cour- ttesy of prepaying the postage of the letter of correspondence you hope to receive. They are redeemable in stamps at 5 cents each. The sixth cent goes to the government to pay the expenses of getting them out. Un- iderstand?
 Well, that coupon I received from Spain cost. in Spain, the equivalent ot one cent here in America. The rate of currency exchange differs, you know, in these times. Do you see? I took that coupon to the United States post office and there I received the value of five cents for 1t. That meant the stamp had yielded 400 per cent. lprofit.
 "I said to myself that I might buy Hundreds, thousands, millions of these stamps in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and all the new countries in south and southeast Europe. Then n planned further. I investigated and studied foreign exchange.
 'I bought a small amount of the stamps abroad. I made a neat turn lover. I had little money of my owr and figured that 1t was best to make money in this way while the possi- Fbility was here. So I went lou among the few men I knew and beg tged them to let me have their wages their earnings and what they could obtain in loans. I worked It wa! hard work. It almost drove me mad Here I had opportunity to mak' a legitimate fortune, and I was goint to fail because there would not b' time and I'd have to do it like a pix CT unless someone helped me. worked all day and all night MeI laughed at me. They warned me tha I'd go to jail. l knew l was righ and kept looking for a man wh' would take a chance or let me talk chance with his money. I had non of my own.
 'T took one room at 27 School St n found a man who said he'd pu money in my scheme If I'd prove it worth. I had couple of thousan' dollars and I decided to let 1t go in to advertising and office rent. I sho the roll, as they say, and the rol game home. I really got under wa. in December.
 'T got a few investors, many O them my own countrymen. To eacI of them I issued a promissory note as I do now, saying they could col lect in ninety days. Why I pay i forty-five days I shall explain pres entIy.
 "W;tnin a month the few thousan dollars increased to fifteen thousand - Persons who had received 40 or 5 per cent. on their money in 7y
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