No one is really above a well-crafted 'get rich-quick’ scheme

We could call Charles Ponzi the God-father of the modern-day conman, but that would be unfair to General Gregor Mac Gregor, the Irishman who sold thousands an imaginary country. In 1821, at a moment in time when many of the Caribbean nations were declaring their independence, General MacGregor set sail across the oceans.