Empire of Deception
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137 dressed as a widow “Find Koretz Trail in S. America, U.S. Hears,” Chicago Evening Post, December 17, 1923.
138 whether he is real Mae’s testimony was widely reported in the Chicago press.
139 My one regret “Arrest Mrs. Auerbach, Is Police Order,” Chicago Daily News, December 17, 1923.
139 Yes madam “Son of Wizard Goes to Work Selling Shirts in Evanston Store,” Chicago Evening American, December 19, 1923.
139 We had heard about oil “Koretz Dupes Found a River,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 18, 1923.
139 We talked to everybody “Chicagoans Sent to Big Paying Jobs, Borrow Carfare,” Chicago Evening American, December 18, 1923.
140 KORETZ DUPES FOUND A RIVER Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 18, 1923.
140 ARGONAUTS OF OIL RETURN Chicago Daily News, December 18, 1923.
140 Haven’t you fellows had enough? “Bayano River Sextet Back, Sad and Mum,” Chicago Evening Post, December 18, 1923.
140 I have a lot of good Ibid.
140 Our offices are under our hats “Four of Koretz Panama Party Sadly Come Home,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 19, 1923.
140 that Koretz’ promotion was a fraud “Bayano River Sextet Back, Sad and Mum,” Chicago Evening Post, December 18, 1923.
140 You’d think that legal experience Kaufman’s Comment, Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
141 Just one small conversation “Oil Swindle Nets Millions,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 13, 1923.
141 One of the richest oil fields Chicago Daily News, December 14, 1923.
141 BUBBLE, BUBBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE Chicago Evening American, December 15, 1923.
141 leading financial laxative From Pillar to Post, Chicago Evening Post, December 19, 1923.
141 I did not think it strange “Koretz Kept No Books in Office, Says Secretary,” Chicago Evening Post, December 18, 1923.
141 I loaned a little money “Koretz Found, Belief of U.S. Authorities.” Chicago Daily News, December 19, 1923.
142 We will never give up “Blackmail Koretz for Million?” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 19, 1923.
142 It was every cent “Court Must Make Us Return $75,000,” Chicago Evening American, December 19, 1923.
142 he had felt “intimidated” “Call Man to Quiz on Offer to Find Him,” Chicago Evening American, December 22, 1923.
142 nothing criminal “Ask $25,000 to Reveal Hiding Place of Koretz,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 22, 1923.
143 Knowing Leo Koretz “Claims Koretz Gave Wife Cash,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 28, 1923; and “Seek Koretz in the West,” Chicago Daily News, December 28, 1923.
144 swallowed their losses “Koretz Is Caught at Halifax Hotel,” New York Times, November 24, 1924.
144 sucker list “Locate Koretz, Expect Arrest in a Few Days,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 20, 1923.
144 You can name your own Ibid.
144 revelation would “ruin” him “N.Y. Victims of Koretz Say He Is There,” Chicago Evening American, December 17, 1923; and “Find Koretz Trail in S. America, U.S. Hears,” Chicago Evening Post, December 17, 1923.
144 in an uproar “Meteoric Rise to Wealth of ‘Self-Made’ Koretz,” Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
145 heaviest investors Hecht, A Child of the Century, 154 (see chap. 15 notes). Information on Brisbane and his fortune is drawn from Oliver Carlson, Brisbane: A Candid Biography (New York: Stackpole Sons, 1937), 16, 254, 266, 278.
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147 these birds would now be The Key West incident was recounted in the December 23, 1923, letter of US Marshal B. E. Dyson to Attorney General Harlan F. Stone. RG 60, Department of Justice records, Classified Subject Files, file 36-18-3 (Leo Koretz), box 9131, NARA, College Park, MD.
148 One who has faith “Anonymous Letters Made Public by Crowe,” Chicago Evening Post, December 18, 1923.
148 This case is too big “Koretz Here in Skirts, Report,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 21, 1923.
148 I intend to keep my staff “Crime in County Cut in Half by Crowe and Aids,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 31, 1924.
148 Something’s rotten in official Denmark Kaufman’s Comment, Chicago Evening American, December 14, 1923.
148 Who was asleep Chicago Evening Post, December 19, 1923.
149 huge returns “Koretz Indicted; U.S. Warrant for Arrest Issued,” Chicago Evening Post, December 18, 1923.
149 The main thing now “Koretz Reported to Be within Day’s Train Ride of City,” Chicago Evening Post, December 19, 1923.
149 scope and dignity “Bootlegging Trail Leads Up to Koretz,” Chicago Daily News, December 18, 1923.
149 We hope that the federal officials “Locate Koretz, Expect Arrest in a Few Days,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 20, 1923.
150 Dresses expensively The wording of the bulletin is included in Swanberg’s research notes. See “True: Koretz, Leo,” 23 (Swanberg Papers) (see chap. 7 notes).
150 to supply several humorous magazines “Koretz Is Soviet Finance Minister, ‘Hot Tip’ to U.S.,” Chicago Evening American, December 22, 1923.
150 I never heard the name “Koretz One Swindler She Missed, Says Doris Keane,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 22, 1923.
150 the super-Ponzi “‘Locate’ Koretz in Many Climes; Now Seek Aids,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 25, 1923.
150 the Panama Ponzi “Bare Koretz’s Double Life,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 15, 1923.
150 Bayanoed “Koretz on Grill Here Today,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 1, 1924. The Herald and Examiner later tried to coin a term as well, dubbing Leo’s victims “Bayanoes.” See “Koretz Taken Ill in Prison,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, January 6, 1925.
150 the most resourceful confidence man “Koretz Is Caught at Halifax Hotel,” New York Times, November 24, 1924.
150 This is the greatest swindle “Was Preparing for Get-Away to South When Arrested,” Evening Mail, November 25, 1924.
151 If I get any word “Mrs. Koretz Says She Never Can Forgive Husband,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 24, 1923.
151 We have pretty nearly run Ibid.
151 If—On New Year’s The text of the card was quoted in various press reports, See, for instance, “Koretz Greeting Cards’ Source Sought by U.S.,” Chicago Evening Post, December 29, 1923.
151 Leo’s last line “Koretz Sends Yule Greetings to His Victims,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 29, 1923.
152 Joke or not Ibid.
CHAPTER 19
153 hardly an equal for knowledge Grant Richards, Author Hunting, by an Old Literary Sportsman: Memories of Years Spent Mainly in Publishing, 1897–1925 (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1934), 74–77.
153 is one of the most potent Temple Scott, ed., The Friendship of Books (New York: Macmillan, 1926), ix, xi–xii.
154 interested in opening a bookstore Leo described his meeting with Scott in “Koretz Tells His Life Story,” Chicago Daily News, December 2, 1924.
154 was one of the most interesting “Koretz Posed as Man of Letters, Purchased New York Book Store,” Chicago Evening American, November 26, 1924.
155 I suppose I took some chance “Koretz Tells His Life Story,” Chicago Daily News, December 2, 1924.
155 Leo checked the newspapers Leo confirmed he followed newspaper coverage of his case in the transcript of evidence, pp. 21–22, In the Matter of the Estate of Leo Koretz in Bankruptcy, Nova Scotia Supreme Court (NSSC) (Halifax), Bankruptcy Court, RG 39 B, vol. 7, no. 72B, Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management (NSARM), Halifax, NS.
155 the metropolis of our planet Ernest H. Gruening, “New York: 1. The City—Work of Man,” in These United States: Portraits of America from the 1920s, ed. Daniel H. Borus (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992), 256–57, 265.
156 to make the height Bryan B. Sterling and Frances N. Sterling, eds., A Will Rogers Treasury: Reflections and Observations (New York: Crown, 1982), 45.
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156 In New York Gruening, “New York,” 265.
156 It just occurred to me “‘Guilty’: To Be Koretz Plea,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 2, 1924.
156 often called him “kite” Ibid.
156 Prefers jail, he says From Pillar to Post, Chicago Evening Post, January 2, 1924.
156 Koretz was an insatiable reader “Koretz Is Soviet Finance Minister, ‘Hot Tip’ to U.S.,” Chicago Evening American, December 22, 1923.
157 I regarded him “Watson, Woman in Koretz Case, Found in India,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 31, 1924.
157 All the books he took “Koretz Posed as Man of Letters, Purchased New York Book Store,” Chicago Evening American, November 26, 1924.
158 cozy rather than commercial “$49,000 Koretz Cash and Store Are Seized,” Chicago Daily News, November 25, 1924.
158 It was a dud Ibid.
158 the city of the Good Time Ford Madox Ford, New York Is Not America: Being a Mirror to the States (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1927), 49.
158 city of booze and bankrolls Sterling and Sterling, eds., A Will Rogers Treasury, 45.
158 some place in the woods “Koretz Tells His Life Story,” Chicago Daily News, December 2, 1924.
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160 citadel of The Leisure Class “The Theory of the A&F Class,” New York Times, November 19, 1977.
160 an accomplished hunter Biographical information on Mitchell is drawn from his obituary, “L. D. Mitchell Dead; Noted Sportsman,” New York Times, June 19, 1931.
161 veritable paradise Quoted in James Morrison and Lawrence Friend, “We Have Held Our Own”: The Western Interior of Nova Scotia, 1880–1940 (Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1981), 94. The photograph appears on p. 95.
161 Here is the new field Laurie D. Mitchell, “Where to Go for Atlantic Tuna,” Liverpool (NS) Advance, April 22, 1914 (reprinted from Rod and Gun).
161 He was pleasant and agreeable “Women and $100 Tips Trapped Leo,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, November 25, 1924.
162 If one has never been A. Byron McLeod, “Hunting in Nova Scotia,” National Sportsman, n.d., p. 427. Undated copy of magazine article in manuscript file A97-58, Thomas Raddall Research Centre, Queens County Museum, Liverpool, NS.
162 fairy lakes Albert Bigelow Paine, The Tent Dwellers (Halifax: Nimbus, 1993), 33.
162 big game country Irvin S. Cobb, Some United States: A Series of Stops in Various Parts of This Nation with One Excursion across the Line (New York: George H. Doran, 1926), quoted in Mike Parker, Where Moose and Trout Abound: A Sporting Journal (Halifax: Nimbus, 1995), 31, 34.
162 John D. Rockefeller Jr James H. Morrison, “American Tourism in Nova Scotia, 1871–1940,” Nova Scotia Historical Review 2, no. 2 (1982): 47.
163 commodious lodge Robert R. McLeod, Pinehurst, or Glimpses of Nova Scotia Fairyland (Boston: Bartlett, 1908), 11 (republished in the Halifax Herald, February 13, 1909).
163 Evening at Pinehurst William E. Marshall, Brookfield and Other Verse (Montreal: John Lovell and Son, 1919), 141. The poem was written in 1907.
164 a writer of reputation “Glancing over Nova Scotia—Liverpool,” Halifax Herald, March 14, 1924.
164 L. Keyte, of New York “‘Pinehurst Is Sold to New York Man,” Caledonia (NS) Gold Hunter and Farmers’ Journal, April 4, 1924.
165 nine miles out to sea Zane Grey, Tales of Swordfish and Tuna (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1927), 2, 13–14.
CHAPTER 21
166 He was an odd sight Raddall’s recollections of Leo, unless otherwise noted, are drawn from his autobiography, In My Time: A Memoir (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976), 129–30; and “Pinehurst Lodge,” in Thomas Head Raddall Fonds, MS-2-2002, series 14, research notes, box 31 file 1, 1–2, Dalhousie University Archives, Halifax, NS.
167 a printed menu card Raddall kept the signed card, which is included in the “Pinehurst Lodge” file in his papers. Raddall Fonds, series 14, box 31, file 1.
168 Money was nothing to him Quoted in Vernon L. Oickle, Friends and Neighbours: A Collection of Stories from the Liverpool Advance (Yarmouth, NS: Fundy Group, 1993), 135.
169 is now living at this beautiful “South Brookfield,” Caledonia (NS) Gold Hunter and Farmers’ Journal, May 16, 1924.
169 He spoke of the States Raddall, In My Time, 129.
170 to use later in his writings “‘Why Don’t the Women Leave Me to Myself?’—Koretz,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 28, 1924.
171 was known as one of the best “Swindler Led Merry Life of Country Squire,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 25, 1924. Descriptions of the renovated Pinehurst and its contents are drawn from reports and photographs published in Chicago newspapers and the Nova Scotia press, as well as “Pinehurst Lodge,” Raddall Fonds, p. 2; and Robert Johnson, Brookfield in the Wilderness: A History of North and South Brookfield, Queens County, Nova Scotia, Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Founding of Brookfield (Caledonia: North Queens Heritage Society, 1999), 53.
172 He was a real fussy man The Scott brothers’ recollections, unless otherwise noted, are drawn from Oickle, Friends and Neighbours, 135. The author misspells Maurice Scott’s name as Morris.
172 Getting me there Interview with Maurice Scott, April 28, 1977, Kejimkujik Oral History Project. Recording in the possession of the Friends of Keji Cooperating Association, Hammonds Plains, NS. The author is grateful to the interviewer, Dr. James Morrison, for his assistance in tracking down this recording.
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174 prince of entertainers “A Prince of Entertainers Was Millionaire Keytes,” Halifax Evening Mail, November 24, 1924.
174 merry life “Swindler Led Merry Life of Country Squire,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 25, 1924.
174 and seventeen were drunk “Koretz Gives $200,000 to His Victims,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 28, 1924.
174 for fear he’d talk Ibid.
174 Pinehurst became a northern version See F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995), chapter 3. Fitzgerald wrote the novel in the summer and fall of 1924.
175 Everyone liked him Oickle, Friends and Neighbours, 135 (see chap. 21 notes).
175 He was a rich bachelor Interview with Maurice Scott, April 28, 1977, Kejimkujik Oral History Project (see chap. 21 notes).
176 a succession of dear friends “Pinehurst Lodge,” Raddall Fonds, p. 3 (see chap. 21 notes).
176 Keyte had a fickle Ibid.
176 They send me urgent telegrams “Koretz Hints Girl Loved and Betrayed Him,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 26, 1924.
176 a brilliant party “Women and $100 Tips Trapped Leo,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, November 25, 1924. Mitchell identified two of the prominent guests as George McClearn and J. J. Cameron McClearn, a Liverpool hardware merchant just coming off a four-year term as the town’s mayor, was Queens County’s representative in the Nova Scotia Legislature. Cameron practiced law in Liverpool with W. L. Hall, the leader of one of the province’s political parties; he would soon begin a thirty-year reign as the town’s solicitor and magistrate.
177 Dancing … was the chief entertainment “Glancing over Nova Scotia—Caledonia,” Halifax Herald, September 2, 1924. The party was also noted in the Liverpool section of “Glancing over Nova Scotia” in the paper’s August 30, 1924, edition and in “Nova Scotia Day by Day—Caledonia,” Halifax Morning Chronicle, August 30, 1924.
177 Some people commandeered canoes Thomas Raddall described the party and quoted Leo’s comments about his past in “Pinehurst Lodge,” Raddall Fonds, 2–3 (see chap. 21 notes).
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179 the most cruel, cowardly, dastardly Baatz, For the Thrill of It, 3 (see chap. 8 notes).
180 love of thrills Ibid., 91.
180 crime of the century The case’s claim to this overused title is discussed in Hal Higdon, Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of the Century (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999), 7–8.
180 The Franks murder mystery Ibid., 112.
; 181 a barbarous practice Clarence Darrow, “The Futility of the Death Penalty,” Forum, September 1928, reproduced in Wekesser, The Death Penalty, 48, 50 (see chap. 11 notes).
181 poor sons of millionaires Quotations from Crowe’s closing arguments are drawn from Sellers, The Loeb-Leopold Case, 234, 242–43, 247 (see chap. 2 notes). The reference to Koretz is on p. 293. In the 1956 novel Compulsion, a fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb case, a character modeled on Robert Crowe claims one of the thrill killers had aspired to become “a clever financial criminal, putting through gigantic stock swindles, like Koretz”—echoing Crowe’s actual words from the 1924 trial. Meyer Levin, Compulsion (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956), 465.
182 a crime of singular atrocity Sellers, The Loeb-Leopold Case, 320–21 (see chap. 2 notes).
183 Arkansas land worth Among the victims of the Arkansas scam was the widow of Leo’s former law partner Daniel Belasco, the man who had introduced him to David Nieto in 1907. Belasco died in a car accident in 1915, and Leo, who administered the estate, convinced his wife to invest $31,000 in his Arkansas operations. Her investment was worthless. See “Find Koretz Trail in S. America, U.S. Hears,” Chicago Evening Post, December 17, 1923; and “Koretz Fraud Grows by Millions,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, December 18, 1923. Belasco’s death was reported in “2 Killed, 8 Hurt in Auto Smashes; Lawyer a Victim,” Chicago Daily Tribune, July 20, 1915.
183 mobbed the place all day “Koretz Past Glories Sold for Creditors,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 30, 1924.
183 any other salesman “Mrs. Koretz Earns Success,” Chicago Evening American, November 25, 1924.
183 That woman is a brick “Koretz’ Wife Absolutely Penniless, Loyal Friends Assert,” Chicago Herald and Examiner, November 26, 1924.
184 She has been remarkable “Kin Hoped for Death, Not Cell, for Koretz,” Chicago Evening American, November 26, 1924.