Lot 257

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Lot 257
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Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Accountant", ALS on Israel and Bashing Nixon
Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Accountant", ALS on Israel and Bashing Nixon
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Description:

Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Accountant", ALS on Israel and Bashing Nixon

Single page autograph letter signed. Dated "May 29 1975", and signed by Meyer Lansky as "Shalom Meyer". 8" x 10". Near fine condition with two punch holes along right edge affecting one word of text, a toning to the outer edge of the paper.

Meyer Lansky, known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a major American 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. An intriguing letter by Lansky written in 1975, in which he bounces about covering numerous concerns, beginning with a reference to a meeting with Dave Switzer saying he heard "much from him about Israel the sadness that those honorable thieves committed. The religious and the unreligious. As the saying goes: 'The genius and the moron are both susceptible to corruption.' How low does one man stoop for money. If we can't trust our own people, what can we expect from others …"

Going on to preparing for his jail sentence saying "You better make sure before you come that I'm here I may be in jail. They are trying every method in the book to frame me, which doesn't shock me. This is what I expected"

And later, referring to his concerns about Nixon and what his administration would do to Israel, Lansky wrote: "If you recall I spoke of Nixon may attempt to take the country over. He came close to doing it. Kissinger never impressed me. He is trying to outdo Disraeli. I also warned about the oil people. You will be reading plenty about those bastards …"

From an impoverished childhood on New York City's Lower East Side, Mr. Lansky maneuvered his way up through the ranks of organized crime, as investigators told it, parlaying Prohibition profits into hundreds of illicit and legitimate ventures.

After Prohibition ended in 1933, Lansky successfully parlayed his fortune into gambling interests around the United States (and ultimately internationally). He encouraged other mobsters to invest in Cuba, where eventually he owned or had financial interest in at least three casinos: the Havana Riviera, the Hotel Nacional and the Montmartre Club. In the 1940s, Lansky also began investing in Las Vegas casinos, and assigned his friend Siegel to oversee construction of the Flamingo Hotel.

That project did not go well, at least initially. Cost overruns ballooned the budget from $1.2 million to $6 million, and some of Lansky’s fellow Mob investors were unhappy. Some believed that Siegel, who also tightly controlled income from the telephone “race wire” providing sports results to bookie parlors and casinos, was stealing a portion of their investment. Several chroniclers claim that Lansky, at a Havana meeting of leading organized crime figures from across the United States, approved of Siegel’s assassination, which occurred on June 20, 1947. Lansky’s associates immediately took over the Flamingo upon Siegel’s death, and the property generated income for Lansky and others for decades.

It was around the time of these Syndicate meetings that Lansky allegedly made the famous comment that the American Mafia was “bigger than United States Steel,” at one time the world’s largest corporation. The quote was also used by the fictional character Hyman Roth in the film The Godfather, Part II. Lansky is widely viewed as the inspiration for the Roth character.

This letter also alludes to issues between him, Nixon and Israel. Although less well known, Nixon had ongoing connections to Lansky as well as other Mob members including Bebe Rebozo for decades. According to historian Anthony Summers, when Nixon was gambling very heavily, Rebozo covered Nixon's losses to the tone of possibly $50,000. Most of Nixon's gambling took place at Meyer Lansky's Hotel Nacional in Cuba. Lansky rolled out the royal treatment for Nixon, who stayed in the Presidential Suite on the owner's tab. Author John Andrews wrote in his book, "Power to Destroy" that Nixon invested heavily in Florida land via a secretive investment syndicate headed by Rebozo. Nixon and Rebozo forged close ties to Keyes Realty which was mainly set up as an investment funnel for the mafia and for ex-Cuban politicians who served under Batista. The lender for one of Nixon's Key Biscayne properties in 1967 was Arthur Desser. He was a real estate developer who consorted with both Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa and Meyer Lansky. In 1967 this land passed to Nixon and Bebe Rebozo at bargain rates all forging a wedge between Nixon and Lansky.

But it was years later, when Lansky’s daughter Sandi stated that President Nixon’s had threatened to withhold the sale of Phantom fighter jets to Israel because Lansky refused to cut Nixon in on a casino deal in the Bahamas. Nixon was already angry that Lansky had supported JFK for president years earlier. Undercurrents can run deep.

Despite his efforts to conceal income, in 1970 Lansky was indicted on federal tax evasion charges. He and his family fled to Israel under the Jewish nation’s “right of return,” which touched off a 26-month legal fight. The case went to Israel's highest court, which ruled that he was not entited to citizenship because he was a ''danger to public safety.'' Lansky returned to the United States and was arrested in the Miami International Airport.

''That's life,'' a haggard Mr. Lansky said at the time. ''At my age, it's too late to worry. What will be will be.''

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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