The Bennett Funding Group were the perpetrators of the second largest Ponzi scheme

Ponzi scheme

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation...

 in U.S. history. The leasing & funding company was based in Syracuse, New York

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

. BFG operated under the Bennett Receivables Corporation, Bennett Receivables Corporation II, Bennett Management and Development Corporation, The Processing Center, Inc., Resort Service Company, Inc., American Marine International, Ltd., Aloha Leasing, and Aloha Capital Corporation brands.

From the SEC website:

On March 28, 1996, the SEC filed a civil action against The Bennett Funding Group, Inc., its chief financial officer, Patrick R. Bennett, and other companies Bennett controlled, in connection with a massive Ponzi scheme. The SEC alleged that the defendants fraudulently raised more than several hundred million dollars, purportedly to purchase assignments of equipment leases and promissory notes.

On March 29, 1996, the four corporate defendants filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. On April 18, 1996, the Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of New York appointed Richard C. Breeden as Trustee. The Trustee has distributed approximately $353 million to general unsecured creditors and anticipates making another distribution.