Ponzi Scam

Cutripedia

Recently, the news is full of something called a Ponzi scam. People like Bernard Madoff and Tom Petters swindled other people out of their life savings. But where did the term "Ponzi" come from?

During the 1970's, characters from the TV show Happy Days created a spin-off show about an alien, called Mork and Mindy. This alien introduced the characters to the Star Trek crew. Eventually, the character Fonzie was accidentally merged together with Potsie during a Transporter accident. The new creature, being comprised of both Fonzie and Potsie, was called "Ponzi."

"Ponzi" had the aggressive traits of Fonzie, and the stupid traits (and great singing voice) of Potsie. Eventually, this new being tried to bilk Richie, Mr. Cunningham and Ralph Malph, out of their life savings by selling fake shares of stock in Arnold's Drive-In. Fortunately, Scotty was able to reverse the process by beaming Ponzi back through the transporter--separating Fonzie from Potsie.

Thus, the origins of the term "Ponzi Scam."