The Ponce is just a puppet. Like all the names on that list. The $100k party people will be no different. Weak men exploited by avarice and list.

At the show, even though we can see the strings, we still watch the puppets. We know there's a puppeteer but we don't care. Over time they swap out Punch and Judy and replace them with Thunderbird and Spitting Image. We watch, they take the profits.

Follow that money and it will lead you to the puppeteer