Can I get cash out of a Ponzi scheme?

I invested in shares, the returns from which were very attractive indeed, far beyond any I could get elsewhere.

Funds could not be withdrawn until six months after joining.

My holding was accumulating satisfactorily when, three years ago, without warning, the company was closed down by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission. It alleged it was a Ponzi scheme.

Can you get my money back? AN, COUNTY DURHAM

A Ponzi scheme is one where income is paid, not out of a yield generated from capital, but from new money coming in.

In this case I understand the perpetrators were apprehended.

That doesn’t mean money is recoverable but I hope you alerted the authorities to your loss just in case any was retrieved.

You seem to be in denial about this and still apparently believe the investment was genuine.

This means you could be a candidate for appearing on a “suckers’ list”, which may be circulated among fraudsters touting new “deals”.

These are also likely to sound too good to be true and probably will be.