Johann Baptist Placht
Johann Baptist Placht was an Austrian soldier, civil servant and con artist.
From 1872 to 1873 he operated a Ponzi scheme in Vienna by fooling investors into investing their money profitably. In reality, he used the funds himself and paid the dividends to existing customers with the money of new customers. With the collapse of his system in May 1873, liabilities were in excess of 2 million guilders to particular assets of only about 12,000 florins. On February 10, 1874, he was sentenced to six years in prison for fraud and infidelity, but after three years he was pardoned by the emperor in September 1877.
Contemporary reports and literature
- Placht trial . In: Der Freimüthige , February 7, 1874. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
- Process Placht . In: Prager Börsen-Zeitung , February 12, 1874.
- Placht: the "highest fructificator" - pardoned . In: News-Welt-Blatt , September 28, 1877.
- Local and miscellaneous: The Placht stock exchange company . In: Innsbrucker Nachrichten , May 27, 1873.
- Albert Schäffle : The "big stock market crash" of 1873 . In: Journal for the entire political science. 30th year, 1874, 1st issue, pp. 1–94, here: pp. 55 ff.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Placht, Johann Baptist |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian soldier, civil servant and con artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 19th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 19th century or 20th century |