Simon Swig
| Simon Swig | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1862 Pren, Lithuania |
| Died | July 10, 1939, age 76 Taunton, MA |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Banker, politician |
| Spouse(s) | Fannie Levy |
Simon Swig (1862 in Pren, Lithuania - July 30, 1939 in Taunton, Massachusetts) was an American banker, politician and philanthropist.
Swig was born in Pren (now called Prienai), Lithuania, close to the Belarus border, in 1862. In 1875, when Swig was 13, he immigrated to the United States. He quickly saw success in the U.S. banking industry, promptly earning enough to bring his parents to the United States. As his banking career grew, Swig also became involved in politics in his adopted home state of Massachusetts.
Swig died on July 30, 1939, at the age of 76, of generalized arteriosclerosis and essential hypertension, at the Chase Convalescent Home in Taunton, Massachusetts, where he was living at that time.
In the early 20th century, Swig became Vice President of the Tremont Trust Company, in Boston, Massachusetts, which soon became known colloquially as "Simon Swig's Bank." Swig installed his son, Benjamin Swig, as the bank's treasurer. Alongside Tremont, Swig also gained control of the Tamiami Banking Company in 1926.
Swig was a popular figure in the Boston banking world, but rose to prominence for his involvement in uncovering Charles Ponzi’s banking irregularities known as the “Ponzi Scheme.”
Early in his career, con man Charles Ponzi rented a room rented an office on Court Street, above the Puritan Trust Company. From that office, he hatched his first scheme, which involved stealing 5,387 pounds of cheese, valued at nearly three thousand dollars. Ponzi avoided jail due to a court clerk misspelling his name as "Charles Pouzi," but his good luck ended shortly afterwards; Tremont Trust bought the Court Street building, and Swig wanted the swindler out of his new building.
Ponzi and Swig's interactions did not end there. Once Ponzi's infamous scheme got started, he began keeping a large portion of his assets in Tremont Trust. As neither man liked the other, the money did not stay there long. On July 21, 1920, Swig wrote Ponzi a letter demanding he close his accounts:
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