Elisha Perkins the inventor of his own quack therapy that utilized "tractors".[6] John Henry Pinkard, Roanoke businessman and purveyor of quack medicines. Charles Ponzi, for whom the "Ponzi scheme" is named, a scam that relies on a "pyramid" of "investors" who contribute money to a fraudulent programme Grigori Rasputin a self-proclaimed holy man and healer who gained considerable influence on the family of Tsar Nicholas II and was involved in the political turmoil on the brink of the Russian Revolution.