History·5 February 2026·5 min read
Caritas — Romania's get-rich dream of the 1990s
Millions of Romanians dreamed of easy money through a pyramid scheme in Cluj. Then it all collapsed.
In the early 1990s, Caritas in Cluj promised to return your deposit eightfold. Millions of Romanians deposited, some even their house, hoping to get rich quick.
The same pyramid, a different name
It was a classic pyramid scheme: new depositors' money paid the old ones. In 1994 it collapsed, leaving millions with lost savings. A painful Romanian lesson about "easy money".
"Easy money" doesn't exist. Someone always pays — usually the last one to believe.
