by Dean Jobb
first scam, 31–32
headaches, 33, 185, 187
imprisonment (see prison)
jewelry acquisitions, 57, 102–3, 113, 115, 236, 264
Keyte alias and persona, 13, 153–56, 157–59
law career, 26–27, 29–31, 55–56
marriage and children, 32–33, 42, 54
notoriety and magazine features about, 254, 256–57
passion for detective stories, 5, 14, 55, 156, 189
physical appearance, 5, 14–15, 17, 146, 185
trial (see criminal proceedings)
as victim of scam, 38–42, 43–44
wealth and opulent lifestyle, 5–6, 7, 53–57
women (see women and womanizing)
Koretz, Ludwig, 7–8, 103, 124, 264
Koretz, Mae
at bankruptcy hearing, 136, 137–38
Bayano investment, 53
community service, 57
death and estate, 265
devastation and disgrace, 125, 183–84, 205–6, 232, 265
at Koretz’s death, 248, 249
marriage, 32–33
receipt and return of assets, 113, 115, 138, 143, 236
search for Koretz, 112–13
Koretz, Mari Bertha, 125, 265
Koretz, Marie, 53, 114, 123, 255, 264
Koretz, Max, 16, 19, 249, 255
Koretz, Mentor Henry, 42, 139, 232, 248, 249, 265–66
Kraus, Adolph, 26, 28
Kroch, Adolph, 53
L
Le Bosky, Leo, 122
Lee, Robert Morton, 111
Leonard, Michael, 248
Leopold, Nathan, 180–82, 257
Levy, Felix, 52, 249–50
Lewy Brothers Jewelers, 57, 102–3, 113, 264
Light, Leland, 240–41
Lindberg, Gary, 79
Liverpool Advance, 208
Loeb, Richard, 180–82, 257
Logan, John D., 189
Loomis, Francis, 93
Lundborg, Alfred, 92–93, 263
Lundin, Fred, 68, 83, 86, 87
M
MacArthur, Charlie, 122
Madoff, Bernie, 81, 257–58
Majestic Building, 90, 104, 115, 131
Mandel, Milton, 57, 90, 97, 206, 241
Mandel, Sarah, 90, 104
manhunt and capture
arrest and extradition, 199, 203–5, 204, 213–17, 214, 223–25
confession, 230–31
credit for capture, 209, 212
disappearance, 105–7, 111–14
identification of Koretz, 201–2
return to Chicago, 223–26, 228–29
reward, 146, 149–50, 184–85, 262
tips and leads, 147–48, 149–51, 184, 185
Marshall, Thomas, 223, 230
Matthews, Francis
as Bayano investor, 7, 49, 72, 89, 240
discovery of swindle, 109, 114
formal complaint against Koretz, 114
in indictment against Koretz, 220, 239
on Koretz as victim of scam, 42
on Koretz’s planning of swindle, 44
losses, 116, 140
public ridicule of, 140–41
trustee position with Bayano, 96
trust in Koretz, 93–94, 124, 140–41
Maurer, David, 78–79
Mayer, Arthur, 51, 206
Mayer, Bertha, 32, 53, 103, 142
Mayer, Edwin, 100, 101–3, 108, 139
Mayer, Henry, 32, 53
Mayer, Levy, 28–29
Mayer, Oscar, 21
Mayer, Pearl, 53, 105
McCullough, David, 37
McKay, W. B., 169–70 186
McLeod, Byron, 162
McPhaul, John, 121, 129
McSwiggin, William, 203–4, 211, 224, 227, 259–61
Mell, Clayton, 107
Mencken, H. L., 121
Miller, Donald, 18
Miller, William Franklin, 80, 81–82
Mitchell, Elizabeth, 172, 186–87
Mitchell, Laurie
death, 262
on Koretz’s womanizing, 190, 216
on lavish entertaining at Pinehurst, 176, 216
management of Pinehurst Lodge, 164, 172, 186–87
relationship with Zane Grey, 165, 185, 186, 188–89, 216, 262
as sportsman and promoter of tourism, 160–65
Mitchell, Malcolm, 203, 204, 213, 262
Moran, Thomas, 26
N
Newman, Jacob, 202
New York hideaway
Abercrombie and Fitch, 159–60
alias and persona, 153–56
Bayano branch office, 91, 105
friends and diversions, 91–92, 158
Neighborhood Book Shop, 154, 157–58, 207
St. Regis Hotel, 90–91
New York Times
on Abercrombie and Fitch, 160
on Bayano victims, 144
on Koretz as con artist, 150, 255–56
on manhunt and capture of Koretz, 155, 205
on Janet Wilkinson murder, 63
Nieto, David, 36, 38–39, 41, 42, 43–44
Nova Scotia hideaway
alias and persona, 164, 165, 169–70, 188, 189, 196
capture and extradition, 199, 203–5, 204, 213–17, 214, 223–25
community reactions to deception, 208
community wariness and disapproval, 189–90, 195
discrimination against Jews, 195–96
extravagant lifestyle and lavish entertaining, 166–69, 172–77, 175, 193–94, 215–17, 226
at Halifax Hotel, 192, 193, 197
identification of Koretz, 201–2
moose-hunting expedition, 196
Pinehurst Lodge and estate, 162–64, 169, 170, 171–72, 207, 261
revelation of source of fortune, 178
suspicious behavior and disputes, 186–87
women, 175, 175–76, 195, 197, 222, 231
O
O’Banion, Dion, 210, 211
O’Brien, James “Ropes,” 63, 84
O’Hearn, Walter, 215, 223
oil scam. See Bayano River Syndicate
oil-stock mania, 75–77
Olson, Edwin, 210–11, 221, 247
O’Malley, Austin, 218, 223
P
Paine, Albert Bigelow, 162
Panama. See Bayano River region, Panama
Panama Canal, 24, 37, 38, 39, 43, 45–46, 101, 108, 189
Parkin, Harry. See bankruptcy proceedings
Patterson, Charles, 111
Peck, C. L., 108
Pegler, Arthur, 121
Pegler, Westbrook, 8
Philipsborn, Clara, 58, 124
Pinehurst Lodge and estate, 162–64, 169, 170, 171–72, 207, 261
Platt, Henry, 141
Polachek, Victor, 112, 145
Ponzi, Charles, 10–11, 80–82, 221, 257
prison
declining health and death in, 246, 247–48
living conditions, 245–46
sentence, 241–42
Prohibition, 9, 71, 86, 158, 164
Pullman, George Mortimer, 9
R
Raddall, Thomas
career as author, 262–63
as friend and confidant of Koretz, 166–67, 169, 177–78, 208
on Koretz’s fondness for women, 176, 191–92, 195
on Koretz’s moose-hunting expedition, 196
at Pinehurst housewarming bash, 177–78
at revelation of Koretz’s deception, 208
Republic of Panama. See Bayano River region, Panama
Reutlinger, Harry, 226
rice farms. See Arkansas rice farms
Richman, Samuel
Bayano investment, 51, 52, 72, 240
in indictment against Koretz, 203, 222, 238, 240
rental of office space from Koretz, 56
trust in Koretz, 53, 141
Ritchie, Charles, 195
Rockefeller, John D., 3, 12, 76, 100–101, 138
/>
Rockefeller, John D., Jr., 162
Roosevelt, Theodore, 23, 28, 38, 160
Rosenhaupt, Harry, 124–25
Rosenthal, Bessie, 60
Rosenwald, Julius, 95, 145
S
Sandburg, Carl, 19, 210
Sante, Luc, 79
Sbarbaro, John
arrest and extradition of Koretz, 203–4, 215, 216, 224
Leopold and Loeb case, 180, 184
on magnitude of Bayano swindle, 144, 150
manhunt for Koretz, 133–34, 149, 151, 156, 184
prosecution of Koretz, 227, 230
underworld connections, 211
Schaeffer, Mrs. Alwin, 30
Schoener, Marcy, 51, 91–92, 105, 144
Schoener, Mary, 91, 105, 132, 155
Scholl, William, 21
Schon, Harriet, 197
Schroeder, Josephine, 49, 92–93
Schwartz, Sylvia, 129, 132, 133, 134–35
Scott, Maurice, 172, 175, 263
Scott, Temple (Isaac Henry Solomon Isaacs), 153–54, 157–58, 163, 193, 207
Scott, Walter, 168, 172, 175
Scriven, Rainard, 203, 223–24, 225–26, 261–62
search for Koretz. See manhunt and capture
Sheboygan Press-Telegram, 242
Shirley Apartments, 127–28, 129–30
Siegel, Jane, 265
Simon, Aimee, 53, 103, 113, 115
Simon, Milton, 53, 103, 113
Simon, Percy, 220, 239
Small, Lennington, 86
Smith, Henry K., 34
Smith, Milton, 100, 108
Speyer, Etta, 42, 50, 142
St. Regis Hotel, 90–91
Standard Oil, 3, 4, 72–73, 74, 76, 89, 93, 101, 115, 138, 162
Stanford, Allen, 257
state’s attorney. See Crowe, Robert
Stelzer, Carol, 266
Stern, Daniel, 93
Sting, The (movie), 78–79, 80
stock mania, 75–77, 258
Straits Times (Singapore), 205
Sutherland, Edwin, 78, 79, 82
Swanberg, W. A., 6, 221, 256
swindlers. See con men
T
Taggart, Jessie, 157
This Side of Paradise (Fitzgerald), 6
Thompson, William Hale “Big Bill,” 67–69, 79, 83, 85, 86–87, 95, 260
timber scam, Koretz’s. See Bayano River Syndicate
timber scam, Nieto’s, 38–42, 43–44
Torrio, Johnny, 88
trial. See criminal proceedings
Twain, Mark, 19–20, 70, 162
U
United Fruit Company, 38
V
victims. See investors
W
Wallace, William B., 214–15
Wanderer, Carl, 84
Wayman, John, 66–67
Weil, Joseph “Yellow Kid,” 79–80, 97, 119
Weil, Leon, 220
Weisberg, Samuel, 124
Westerfeld, Simon, 220
White, Frances, 176, 177
Whitman, John, 253
Wilbraham, Isaac J., 92, 263
Wilkinson, Janet, 62–64
women and womanizing
callers at Halifax County Jail, 217
community disapproval of Koretz’s behavior, 190, 195
detective surveillance of hotel, 99, 129
“find the woman” strategy in manhunt, 129–34, 157
in Halifax, 191–92, 195, 197, 203, 222, 262
Mae Koretz’s awareness of, 58, 137
Koretz’s lies about, 231
letters to Koretz, 131–32, 157
love nests, 127–30, 131, 133
true-crime magazine stories about, 254, 256
visitors to Pinehurst Lodge, 176, 190, 216
weekend getaways from Chicago, 92, 132
women’s attraction to Koretz, 6, 57, 175, 175
Woolf, Elias B., 104, 106
Z
Zinner, Shandor, 101, 109, 140
Dean Jobb is an award-winning writer and journalist whose work has appeared in major newspapers and magazines in Canada and the United States. The author of six previous books, he is a professor at the School of Journalism, University of King’s College, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Find out more at www.empireofdeception.com. (Author photo by Kerry Oliver.)
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© 2015 by Dean Jobb. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published in Canada
by HarperCollins Canada.
Map, page 35, by Michael Newhouse / Newhouse Design.
Photo credits: frontispiece, pages 1, 65, 85, 136, 227, 239: Chicago History Museum;
page 7: Chicago Tribune (Tribune Content Agency); page 17: Courtesy Mary Goodman;
page 146: Thomas Raddall Fonds, Dalhousie University Archives; page 175: Halifax
Evening Mail, November 25, 1924; page 192: Library of Congress, Prints and
Photographs Division; pages 199, 204: Nova Scotia Archives; pages 40,
50, 100, 131, 170, 214, 250, 254: author collection.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
E-book ISBN 978-1-61620-496-9
