THIS, is very interesting to me. Thank you! I'm definitely going to check this out. I know zippo about the German underworld.

PHOTOS SHOWN AT NAPOLI'S TRIAL
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By Alfred E. Clark
Nov. 4, 1972

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Photographs that were said to show James Napoli, a reputed Mafia leader, in a restaurant rendezvous with a prizefight manager and his boxer were the basis of legal arguments yesterday during Napoli trial of on charges of perjury and contempt.

Joseph Coffey, a detective from the Manhattan District Attorney's office, testified to meeting of the three men at the Unicorn Restaurant, at 324 East 57th Street.

At the meeting with Napoli, who also was known in boxing circles as Jimmy Knapp, was the manager, Garry Garfola, and his fighter, Frank DePaula. They were alleged to have met at the establishment after fight on Jan. 22, 1969, at Madison Square Garden for the light heavyweight championship. DePaula was knocked out in the first round by the titleholder, Bob Foster.

A grand jury later looked into the meeting as well as number of others between fighters and Napoli and his representatives.

A grand jury, which was investigating allegedly fixed boxing matches, later looked into the meeting as well as a number of others between fighters and Napoli and his representatives.

Photos Taken Covertly

Mr. Coffey told Acting Supreme Court Justice Frank J. Dlangiardo, who is hearing the case without a jury at the request of the defense, that he was in the restaurant and observed the three men. The detective said that photographs’ had been taken covertly and these were produced in evidenc

The crux of the argument by the defense atorney, Gregory J. Perrin, was that the pictures were distorted and did not present a true picture.

Before recessing the trial after the morning session until Monday at 10 A.M., Justice Blangiardo indicated he would study the photographs and the legal arguments.

The case goes back at least, three years, and a co-defendant in the indictment with Napoli, was DePaula. He was shot to’ death in September, 1970, and the murder has remained unsolved.

Napoli Faces 9 Counts

Napoli is charged with seven counts of perjury and two of criminal contempt because of his conduct before a grand jury that handed up the true bill in December, 1969.

Since then, Napoli, now 60 years old, has been in and out of court more than 60 times on various pretrial motions.

Law enforcement officials said that Napoli had been the leader of the organized crime family of the late Vito Genovese since its head, Thomas Eboli, who was also known as Tommy Ryan, was slain last spring.

He has been free in $15,000 hail and is reputed to have participated in various illegal activities, including loan?sharking, bookmaking, hijacking and control of a huge policy operation.

Good ole Jimmy Nap! lol

@NYM

Do you know more about their involvement in drug trafficking?

In May 1959, Harry J. Anslinger, then Commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics, praised the attitude with which the revolutionary government had started the fight against drug trafficking. Anslinger had once said that Cuba had become the world center of drug trafficking and that cocaine trafficking in Havana, for example, was then higher than that recorded anywhere else in the world. According to the U.S. official, Anslinger had sent a list to Batista's secret police department with the names of several drug traffickers, including Jack Lansky and Dino Cellini.

During the 1950s, with the explosion of Cuban gambling casinos and the mob's major investments in same, wiseguys and their "associates" of every size, shape, and color were flocking back and forth to Cuba regularly. That little "fact," and the constant interactions of the American hoodlums and Cuban nationals, paved the way for increased drug trafficking between Havana and the U.S.A., (namely South Florida) and Louisiana as landing pointings.

There were literally hundreds upon hundreds of "mules" that could be, and were, used to secret narcotics back into the states.The FBN compiled a laundry list of major traffickers, with (many of the better known ones) placed in their FNB book.

Remember too, those were the days that Charlie Lucky would regularly visit Cuba because he wasn't allowed into the USA. Cuba was the next closest point of call. And considering the mob had "carte blanche" there, it was the perfect place and springboard by which to coordinate drug routes. Thats why eventually the FBN used their power to have Cuba ban Luciano from the island nation.

I could provide a long list of mob names who visited Cuba, some of them used as possible couriers. But unless they were caught redhanded, there is no hard proof that any of them were, in fact, "couriers" per se. A lot of this was conjecture, speculation and educated guesses on the part of the drug agents.

I'm in the middle of several major ButtonGuys projects right now. But when I get a hot minute, I will definitely check for some names.

How much cocaine trafficking was going on in the 1950s? I know that by the late '50s, many considered the drug to be a thing of the past. There wasn't any noticeable resurgence until about 1965. However, one can't help but wonder if the drug was in demand the entire time

Good question cocaine was widely used in WWII, but after 1945 I don't know.

I agree there are plenty of gangsters who lacked empathy and emotion. But Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Cellini, Jimmy Blue Eyes had a complex nature.

For every vicious, heartless, completely remorseless mob guy out there, there was one who had a bit of morals and some conscience. And of course, like everyone else in life, each individual racketeer had his own set of "rules and moral code" he operated by. Varying degrees that ran from the more altruistic, to the deepest depths of depravity.

And I think, depending upon the situation at hand, some of them could act surprisingly altruistic and benevolent. While others didn't have a good bone in their bodies. lol

I did read the cocaine era was introduced in Cuba by the US mafia thirty years before it became popular in the United States.

Cocaine has been popular since the early 1900s. Even before. How do you think that the famous soda brand "Coca-Cola" got it's name in the first place? Back when they first started the company its popularity soared because they actually included "cocaine" as one of the key ingredients in their drink. Back then it wasn't such a "soft drink." lol

Cocaine was legal. Pharmacies and pharmacists prescribed it regularly to treat a variety of illnesses. For that matter, so was pure morphine and heroin! It generally came in liquid form, but it was dispensed in powdered form as well. It was that way until the U.S. Government, FDA, and Drug Bureau got involved and later outlawed it.

And you are correct that Cuba was a major early source of cocaine for the mob. For that matter, so was Mexico.

Good point NYM, in fact Holland was one of the biggest producers in the world untill 1962.

Dutch Cocaine Factory

Yep. The heroin trade always received most of the press coverage. But the cocaine business was a very lucrative trade as well. In some ways, even more popular than the junk business.

Another good expose on Lansky

I appreciate you posting this. The late Hank Messick had unparalleled knowledge of Lansky's secrets. He was the first journalist to grasp Lansky and understand why it was so difficult to build a case against him. Messick's remarks about Al are spot-on. It's amusing that Al, who long denied any connection with Lansky, now openly acknowledges their close friendship. I personally think that Al Malnik, Sam Cohen and individuals associated with the Bank of World Commerce in Nassau and the Miami National Bank were the top money launderers for the Lansky group. This was a billion dollar operation, but no one could see it because the money kept moving.

To quote Messick, "Meyer Lansky doesn't own property. He owns people."

Messick wrote in the Miami Herald that Lansky was "the boss of the Eastern Syndicate," and was "worth $300 million." Both were preposterous exaggerations. But, as everyone here knows, BS like that sticks. Messick's article was enough to set the Justice Dept. hounding him for the rest of his life--they even leaned on the Israeli government to expel him.

Robert Lacey, author of "Little Man - Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life," the most thoroughly researched and footnoted Mob biography, says Lansky was worth no more than $6 million at his peak--not peanuts then or now, but hardly the stuff of $300 million. The reason Lansky lived to age 81 and died peacefully in bed, says Lacey, was that "he was the accountant, he was never the boss." I think that conclusion vastly understates Lansky's pervasive, long-term influence. But, a big part of his influence was that he was never so rich and so powerful as to engender fear, resentment, jealousy and envy among Mob bosses that so often leads to murder.

The so-called boss term regarding Lansky is misunderstood. Yes, he wasnt the "boss of the US mob" which is just another myth, BUT he was the boss or main rep for the Jewish/Non-Ital group of the NY mob and in fact, during a certain period he represented their interests on the Mafia's commission. According to one convo between Genovese members, Willie Moretti allegedly gave the order for the murder of one Jewish member without the "ok" from Lansky, something which created a problem. Also, according to one convo between Accardo and Giancana, they also confirmed the same situation regarding Lansky having a seat on the commission.

I've always been a fan of Robert Lacey's writing style—it's just so captivating. It pulls you right in, convincing you that he's capturing the essence of a man everyone's been trying to unravel. Funny thing is, Lacey was not a crime reporter. In fact, the world of organized crime was like uncharted waters for him when he dove into Meyer Lansky's life and misdeeds.

While some of Messick's claims might make you raise an eyebrow, a good chunk holds up under scrutiny. But here's where Lacey's approach gets tricky. He nods at the FBI, the big-time informants, and those juicy wiretaps featuring the likes of Gyp DeCarlo and even Lansky himself. Then, he throws it all out the window, banking on just one guy's take: Lansky's estranged son, Buddy. Now, Buddy—never quite hit the mark in life, always at odds with his own kin—ends up as Lacey's main source. Why? It makes very little sense.

The truth lies somewhere in between, yet ironically, despite his imperfections, Messick may have been closer to the mark. I believe what's causing skepticism are terms like "Boss of the National Crime Syndicate" or the "$300 million figure." Sometimes, reading between the lines is necessary.

Absolutely spot on TD

I generally agree with the analogy. But I would also add that although Lansky may have, in fact, been the behind-the-scenes "money" manager, brains and coordinator for the casino "skim" and various business infiltrations and for the laundering of untold millions for himself and the mob, back in the day, he was also quite capable as a street hoodlum and gangster....as he aged and became more accomplished, he smoothed out his persona and operating style to become the reserved businessman and benevolent "grandpa" image he used, very successfully, to project to those he dealt with, and to the general public.

Thanks @G.

He controlled even a Swiss-based bank through which he laundered profits. It's very difficult to trace bank accounts/assets in Switzerland. Swiss banking secrecy was first codified with the Banking Act of 1934, thus making it a crime to disclose client information to third parties without a client's consent. The law, coupled with a stable Swiss currency and international neutrality, prompted large capital flight to private Swiss accounts.

Interesting irony:

]oseph (Doc) Stacher was a boyhood chum and close associate of Lansky--they were born in the same year (1902) and both immigrated from Ukraine. He ran gambling rackets for Abner "Longy" Zwillman, helped arrange a critical alliance meeting between Lansky and Italian mobsters in 1931, and was Lansky's right hand man for gaming in Vegas and the Caribbean.

In '64, Stacher was indicted for tax evasion. The Feds revoked his naturalization and wanted to deport him to Ukraine. But this was the Cold War, and the government was loathe to ship anyone--even criminals--"behind the Iron Curtain." Stacher applied for permission to live in Israel under Israel's Law of Return, and was accepted. He lived the rest of his life peacefully in Israel as a "returned Jew."

Lansky tried the same ploy in 1970, when he was the target of a Justice Dept. "strike force." But the Feds plied the Israeli government with reams of material from Lansky's FBI file--they even invited the government's prosecutor in Lansky's citizenship case to Washington, rolled out the red carpet for him, and gave him access to the FBI building and everything in it. Lansky's only "criminal conviction" of record was a guilty plea to a misdemeanor gambling charge in Saratoga Springs, NY, for which he served less than three months in the local jail. But, with constant pressure from the US government, the Israelis ordered Lansky to leave as a "threat to national security."

Bingo! The money that flowed into Al Malnik's Bank of World Commerce was directly routed to Tibor Rosenbaum's International Credit Bank of Switzerland, then swiftly funneled back to the United States, where it was invested in corporations, real estate, stocks, and various other ventures. When authorities began investigating Tibor and the ICB, they found nothing. By 1976, the ICB no longer even existed. Go figure! Those familiar with Al Malnik and the city of Miami know exactly where that money is today. Hell, I see it every time I visit. What Al Malnik and Meyer Lansky pulled off was probably the greatest money laundering scheme in American history

You guys remember the story regarding Chicago's Gus Alex and Swiss banking? Here it is...I created this thread some time ago....

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/u...ain=42626&Number=1057840#Post1057840

By the late 1950s, Chicago's crime bosses needed to find a way to settle the their illegal income, meaning their legitimate enterprises werent enough because during those days the Outfit began stashing so much dirty cash that they had to find a way to hide it. After the numerous convictions for tax evasion, all members realized that they were too vulnerable to a similar prosecution.

To protect themselves, the Outfit transferred huge part of their illegal earnings to Swiss bank accounts, where at the time anonymity was assured by the Swiss Banking Act in Switzerland. Reports say that most of the cash went first to the Federal Reserve of Chicago and from there was wired to banks in Switzerland, England, Italy, Panama and the Grand Caymans.

On April 16, 1960, there was a meeting between Murray Humphreys and Frank Ferraro regarding this situation. Keep in mind that besides acting as advisor for the top administration, Humphreys was also the syndicate's main treasurer and oversaw all of the main finances and loans.








On one of the first travels to Zurich, Switzerland, Alex was accompanied by Outfit boss Tony Accardo and one corrupt police lieutenant known as Tony DeGrazio. In fact, the two Tonys were making a European tour of their own. So the trio decided to meet at the Baur Au Lach Hotel in Zurich. The local police in Zurich reported that Accardo and Alex had very mysterious huddle during their stay in the city. The Swiss authorities already had Alex on surveillance because they suspected him of being linked to a $100,000 jewelry robbery in St. Moritz, Switzerland.



According to mob author Gus Russo in his book “The Outfit”, he talks about the same situation of Alex’s travels to Switzerland, but he also included that in fact Virginia Hill, the infamous mob moll and alleged spy for the Chicago mob who by now lived in Zurich, was the contact person over there and received the Outfit’s pension money and that Alex was the one who contacted her.

During the early 60s Alex, together with his new paramour, began travelling extensively to Europe. The lovely pair usually first took an airplane to Zurich, Switzerland, and rented an apartment and from there they went skiing in St. Moritz for three weeks.

In 1965, bad news struck the Outfit’s hierarchy and Alex regarding the ban which was issued by the government of Switzerland for Alex. He was banned from getting anywhere near Switzerland and later it became an on-going battle between the U.S. government and Alex.

The Chicago Crime commission, Better Government association, and the Chicago police have furnished Swiss authorities with reports on Alex, in an effort to preserve the ban and to curtail his annual overseas jaunts.

On the other hand, Alex’s lawyers had furnished letters to the Swiss government from respectable individuals such as Senator Everett Dirksen and U.S. Congressman William Dawson on behalf of Alex in regard to his efforts to get the ban lifted. Other individuals that wrote the Swiss officials on behalf of Alex were many famous Chicago lawyers including Maurice Walsh. As additional info, Congressman Dawson was a very close friend of Outfit boss Paul Ricca and the late Jake Guzik, who in turn was Alex's previous boss and mentor.

Alex was also visited by a group of reporters regarding the Swiss ban. Alex and his lawyer Eugene Bernstein explained to the press that the intercession of Dirksen and Dawson was a routine and that political channels were normally used in such matters. Speaking of Dawson’s intervention, Alex said “The congressman said he’s known me for 25 years. I think it would be closer to 35 years. I was raised in his district.” The reporters also asked Alex about the speculations that he wished to go back to Switzerland because he had a hidden bank account there and Alex replied “I don’t have a quarter in Switzerland.” Furthermore he also explained that a person with money in Switzerland could make arrangements to obtain it without going there personally.

Alex became angry at the statement about him being a mob courier and said “How could I be a courier when I’m under surveillance night and day by the FBI in Chicago and every place else that I go, and by the police in Switzerland?!” Alex also added “And don’t forget, I’ve never been convicted of a crime. I want this ban removed whether I ever go to Switzerland or not.” He admitted to the press that he had been arrested numerous times, mostly as a kid, but stressed that he had never been accused formally of a crime or put on trial. Alex described himself as a skiing buff and said that he pursued the sport in Italy, France and Austria as well as in Switzerland.

But no matter how hard Alex tried to resist the pressure, in the end the ban was never lifted and to make things even more mysterious, after the ban or in 1966 Alex's alleged contact in Switzerland Virginia Hill allegedly decided to commit a suicide.

Good stuf TD and Giacalone !

Charles Lucky Luciano Switzerland 1946

Did Lansky have anything to do with Harry Shipp of Montreal ?