Why it  in news?

• The Supreme Court set aside a Madras High Court order quashing criminal proceedings against S. Natarajan, now a director in the Sriram Group, in the 2004 high-profile Ponzi scam involving the Chennai-based PNL Nidhi Ltd., which allegedly collected Rs. 68.5 crore from over 13,000 investors and defaulted in repayment. 

What is ponzi scheme?

• A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors.
• The Ponzi scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors.
• This is similar to a pyramid scheme in that both are based on using new investors' funds to pay the earlier backers.