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Empire of Deception

Page 34

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

 

 

 


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