Am I dense (highly possible/probable) for not seeing an original argument the author is trying to make?

(Note: I'm seriously wondering if I'm missing something, especially since it's early and I'm not a morning person.)

Carlo Ponzi was not a Sicilian. Even the old Kingdom of Two Sicilies ended well south of Emilia Romagna.

And what exactly does being Jewish have to do with it? I'm not one to cry "Anti-semitic!" at the drop of a hat, but this guy has me wondering..

Madoff's marks trusted him because he belonged to their ethnic group. That ethnic group happened to be "Jews" but it would have worked just as well with "Italians", "African-Americans", "Swedes"....

As an Italian American who knows plenty of African Americans, I don't think it would have worked just as well with either group. I suspect it might have worked similarly well with Indians, however.

Not all groups have the same level of in-group trust and out-of-group suspicion.

Fair enough, I just thought it was odd. Thanks for the background.

It has some relation - Jewish communities tend to be quite tight. I work with a Jew runing a consultancy and a large amount of the workload comes from his community connections; there is a level of trust - especially regarding money (I know that is a stereotype but it is true) - established by the common religion.