One of the greatest swindlers in American History, Charles Ponzi’s name has become synonymous with any scam that pays early investors returns from the investments of later investors.
Text by Sarah Phelan
I’ve written about Lennar’s rise from a Florida-based small home builder 55 years ago to a nationwide mega developer that was gobbling up land rights and boosting only upward growth, until about two years ago. I’ve also explored its extensive use of joint ventures and limited liability companies and what the economic downturn could mean for Lennar’s proposed developments at San Francisco’s Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point.
And last week, I asked whether Vallejo’s loss, when Lennar declared bankruptcy at Mare Island as part of a LandSource restructuring deal, could somehow have become Lennar’s gain.
And now comes news that Lennar’s stocks took a nasty nose dive last week, when Barry Minkow, who served time for stock fraud, but now apparently investigates fraud in between being a pastor in San Diego, accused Lennar of using its joint ventures like a Ponzi scheme.