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Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky (born Meier Suchowlański;[2] July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American[3] major organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States.[4]
Associated with the Jewish mob, Lansky developed a gambling empire that stretched across the world. He was said to own points (percentages) in casinos in Las Vegas, Cuba, The Bahamas and London. Although a member of the Jewish mob, Lansky undoubtedly had strong influence with the Italian-American Mafia and played a large role in the consolidation of the criminal underworld. The full extent of this role has been the subject of some debate, as Lansky himself denied many of the accusations against him.[5]
Despite nearly fifty years as a member-participant in organized crime,[6] Lansky was never found guilty of anything more serious than illegal gambling.[7] He has a legacy of being one of the most financially successful gangsters in American history. Before he fled Cuba, he was said to be worth an estimated $20 million (equivalent to $193 million in 2019). However, when he died in 1983, his family was shocked to learn that his estate was worth around $57,000.[1]
Lansky was born Meier Suchowlański in Grodno,[8] Russian Empire (now Belarus) to a Polish-Jewish family who experienced antisemitism and pogroms from Imperial authorities.[9] When asked about his native country, Lansky always responded "Poland"[10] (Grodno was in the former lands of Crown of the Kingdom of Poland). In 1911, he emigrated to the United States through the port of Odessa[11] with his mother and brother Jacob, and joined his father, who had immigrated in 1909, and settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York.[12]
Lansky met Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel when they were children. They became lifelong friends, as well as partners in the bootlegging trade, and together managed the Bugs and Meyer Mob, with its reputation as one of the most violent Prohibition gangs. Lansky was also close friends with Charles "Lucky" Luciano; the two met as teenagers when Luciano attempted to extort Lansky for protection money on his walk home from school. Luciano respected the younger boy's defiant responses to his threats, and the two formed a lasting partnership thereafter.[13]
Luciano had a vision to form a national crime syndicate in which the Italian, Jewish, and Irish gangs could pool their resources and turn organized crime into a lucrative business for all—an organization he founded after a conference was hosted in Atlantic City by Luciano, Johnny Torrio, Lansky and Frank Costello in May 1929.[14][15][16]
By 1936, Lansky had established gambling operations in Florida, New Orleans, and Cuba. These gambling operations were successful as they were founded upon two innovations:
First, Lansky and his connections had the technical expertise to manage them effectively based upon Lansky's knowledge of the true mathematical odds of most popular wagering games.
Second, mob connections, as well as bribed law enforcement, were used to ensure legal and physical security of their establishments from other crime figures and law enforcement.
There was also an absolute rule of integrity concerning the games and wagers made within their establishments. Lansky's "carpet joints" in Florida and elsewhere were never "clip-joints" where gamblers were unsure of whether or not the games were rigged against them. Lansky ensured that the staff administering the games consisted of men of high integrity.
In 1946, Lansky convinced the Italian-American Mafia to place Siegel in charge of Las Vegas, and became a major investor in Siegel's Flamingo Hotel. To protect himself from the type of prosecution which sent Al Capone to prison for tax evasion and prostitution, Lansky transferred the illegal earnings from his growing casino empire to a Swiss bank account, where anonymity was assured by the 1934 Swiss Banking Act. Lansky eventually even bought an offshore bank in Switzerland, which he used to launder money through a network of shell and holding companies.[17]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyer_Lansky