James "Jim" Paul Lewis Jr. operated one of the largest and longest running Ponzi schemes in United States history.
He operated under the name of Financial Advisory Consultants in Lake Forest, Calif., and promised high returns.
Lewis said that he was investing the money, and he even made dividend and withdrawal payments so that the scam could continue, but was instead using it to finance his own high lifestyle of fancy cars, big homes, and girlfriends.
But eventually, new investors stop contributing and the whole pyramid collapses, with the later contributors getting nothing in return for their investment.
[7] He was brought back to California, and in 2006 was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge.