Lot 259

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Lot 259
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Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Accountant", ALS on Watergate, and Big Oil
Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Accountant", ALS on Watergate, and Big Oil
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Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Accountant", ALS on Watergate, and Big Oil

Single page autograph letter signed. Dated "Aug 9, 1973", and signed by Meyer Lansky as " Meyer" 8.5" x 11". Near fine condition with two punch holes along right edge affecting not affecting text.

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 1973 showing just how tied in he was to many circles of corruption shown in part below:

".. My most important matter I won. The year doesn't annoy me at all, I just wanted to win this frame up and I'm sure it will be the same with the other one, most likely without a trial. They well know that I am innocent but they are afraid to let go now because it would be an admission of their guilt. I have to pay for it through the nose.

I heard that my victory got very little attention in your press, my loss received much more attention. Now with the exposure of Mitchel and Watergate would it not be a good time to expose Shapiro? We should quote his conversation with that lawyer from Haifa. Please send the name of the Haifa lawyer. I will try to do something from here to expose Shapiro and Berg…

I'm sure you are aware of the letter from the President of Standard Oil to his stockholders about near East. I told you Israel cannot be complacent with our politicians, especially the one's that are controlled by the oil interest. Max Fisher from Detroit I'm sure understand that he had to get off the board of Marathon Oil…"

Meyer was referencing several key players from the Watergate scandal and beyond .. Involving Nixon, and the mob on multiple levels. 

John Mitchell:
The only United States attorney general to serve a prison sentence
Mitchell, a friend, confidant and law partner of Richard M. Nixon, became a familiar face on television screens across America in the summer of 1973 as he sparred with members and staff of the Senate Watergate Committee probing his role -- and Nixon's -- in the Watergate scandal. But the dour, pipe-smoking Mitchell, who dead-panned his way through three days of testimony on television, gave away very little. Other former White House aides and Nixon administration officials decided to avoid the ordeal of a trial after indictment and plea-bargained with the Watergate special prosecutor. Mitchell, however, was indicted, stood trial and was convicted along with three other defendants in the Watergate cover-up trial.

David Shapiro:
Shapiro was a defense attorney in the Watergate scandal. He was defending Charles Colson ,a member of his own law firm in Washington, D.C.. Colson joined the firm as a partner briefly after he left the White House as special counsel to former President Richard M. Nixon.

Donald Berg:
One of the founders and president of the Cape Florida Development Company, in which Bebe Rebozo has an investment. This is the company from which Richard Nixon bought two lots of Florida land. Berg has also been a close personal friend and occasional business associate of Lou Chesler, a Lansky front man. Berg has several investments in the Key Biscayne area. This complex corrupt land syndicate is shown in more detail below for those interested in the gritty details:

Letters like this can rock one's core in showing the complex interwoven fabric of corruption, and the undercurrent of what is now called "the deep state". The far reaching tentacles stretch out across the boundaries of politics, business and the overseeing  bodies of the U.S. Intelligence Community. It's existence, only on occasion bubbles to the surface, both then and now. An important letter.

BIOGRAPHY ON THE COMPLEX FLORIDA LAND SYNDICATE, 1972 INVOLVING NIXON, BERG AND LANSKY:

"Los Angeles Free Press December 1, 1972 Part One Page 5:

The Syndicate makes a land killing in Florida

The company began building in 1964 when Vance Foster joined the board of directors. Foster is named in the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations as having been involved in stolen securities in New York City in 1967 and 1968. One month after Foster arrived at Lefcourt Realty, the company changed its name to World Wide Realty and Investing Co. Shortly after that he was joined on the board by a director of another Lansky bank, Alan Kornblum. In early 1965, World Wide Realty purchased a piece of Cape Florida land for which the Miami Beach First National Bank acted as trustee. The value of Key Biscayne land, a part of the larger Cape Florida area, soared suddenly in late 1965, thanks to legislation introduced by Florida Senator Robert Haverfield to turn part of the land into a state park. Shortly thereafter, Cape Florida Development Co., from which Richard Nixon bought his Key Biscayne property, was incorporated.

Pensions Save Mob From Early Retirement

In the following months Cape Florida Development proceeded to buy over $1 million worth of Key Biscayne land from World Wide Realty at a considerable profit to World Wide. Just at that point World Wide had overcome a serious financial crisis by securing a $5 million loan from the Teamster Union’s pension fund. The men who manage the Teamster fund have made several loans to other Mob fronts through the years, including Lanky's Miami banks, which perhaps throws some light on Nixon's uncharacteristic burst of generosity last year in releasing Teamster Union president Jimmy Hoffa from prison. It seems World Wide Realty’s close connections with Organized Crime and Meyer Lansky, in particular, were too apparent. Another corporation, Cape Florida Development Co., had to be constructed by the same interests to buy the land from World Wide when it became obvious that real estate values would jump. 

Among the principals in Cape Florida Development were Senator Haverfield, Bebe Rebozo and Donald Berg. Berg, who became president of the new company, had been involved in the Florida area for several years. He is a friend of Lou Chesler who, like Rebozo, has been implicated in stolen stock deals but never prosecuted. Berg is the owner of the Jamaica Inn on Key Biscayne which was frequented by Richard Nixon until Secret Service reports about its connections to the Mob forced the President to find a more suitable restaurant. The final touch needed to make a real killing on the land was effective promotion. Here Richard Nixon was able to play a crucial role. In February 1967, Nixon visited Florida to attend the wedding of Florida Governor Claude Kirk. Berg asked Rebozo, his friend and partner in Cape Florida Development, to have Nixon visit the company’s offices and pose for a picture. Nixon was more than willing. The next day a smiling picture of Berg and Nixon appeared in several Florida newspapers and the Cape Florida Development Co. was off to a good start. In return for this favor Nixon got the land for his Key Biscayne vacation home. It should be noted that the mortgage on one of Nixon's Cape Florida lots was transferred in 1968 to the City National Bank of Miami. This bank is suspected of being used for the deposit of illegal "skim" money from casinos in the Bahamas. One of the bank’s directors is Max Orovitz, Lansky’s old friend who was convicted of stock fraud in New York. One other Florida corporation, the Major Realty Co., links organized crime together with current national political figures, providing legitimacy and protection for the former and payoffs for the latter. What distinguishes Major Realty is that one of its big stockholders and directors, George Smathers, is a former U.S. Senator and a good friend of the President. The company is considered by law enforcement agencies as the primary Meyer Lansky real estate front in Florida. One year after its founding in 1959, Major Realty valued its holdings at $25 million worth of Florida land, making it the third largest real estate company in the state. Today, George Smathers, one of its largest stockholders, owns nearly $1 million worth of Major Realty stock and sits on the board of directors. The president and chairman of the board was George Friedland, who was mentioned previously as the head of Food Fair, Inc. and a suspected Lansky associate. One of the original stockholders was the ubiquitous Max Orovitz. The law firm which first assembled the tracts of land for Major Realty was Levy, Plisco, and Zalla of West Palm Beach, Florida. J.A. Plisco, one of the partners in the firm, is married to LeVonne Bloom, the daughter of Yiddie Bloom. Yiddie is a long-time member of the Minneapolis Syndicate and is allied with Meyer Lansky. According to law enforcement sources, his daughter is an active member of his organization. During the years 1960-66, Major Realty made a series of land sales at large discounts which, according to corporate officials, were necessitated by a cash shortage. Many of the buyers have been identified, however, as Lansky associates. The lawyer in several cases was Gerson Blatt, who purchased over 450 acres from the company for his own portfolio. Blatt has been identified in testimony before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations as an associate of Meyer Lansky. He also shares a law office with Ben Siegelbaum, identified in numerous sources as one of Lansky’s main couriers for illegal money. In early 1967, Roy Talmo became a director of Major Realty and arranged for a $3 million loan from the First American Bank of Palm Beach, of which he is president. Talmo has been called before several grand juries in Florida to explain several peculiarities about his bank, and is suspected by law enforcement authorities of having ties to organized crime.

Amazing Surge in Land Values After Election

The paths of Major Realty and Richard Nixon cross under the most dubious circumstances. In 1962, Nixon began buying shares in another Florida real estate development called Fisher’s Island, Inc. Over the next six years Nixon bought 185,891 shares of the company at one dollar each, a price from which the stock has never deviated - with one exception. After his 1968 election, Nixon decided to sell this stock; his asking price was three dollars a share. After some customary haggling, the corporation decided on two dollars per share, but the question was where to find the cash to make payment. At precisely this moment, Major Realty announced a joint venture with a group called Condev to develop land in the Orlando area while Condev purchased Fisher’s Island for development. The man who presented the Condev proposal to Fisher’s Island was William Rebozo, Bebe’s nephew. Condev proceeded to deposit $350,000 with Fisher’s Island, Inc. in return for an option to purchase its land. Unfortunately for Condev, the deal fell through and the deposit was forfeited. Fortunately for Richard Nixon, however, the forfeited deposit nearly matched the $371,782 needed by Fisher Island, Inc. to pay Nixon for his stock. The Newsday report sums up the deal with extraordinary discretion: “Since Fisher’s Island, Inc. had never more than token cash in its bank account, Condev’s sudden decision to put up $350,000,” and Major Realty's timely intervention in the case, “just at the time when the corporation decided to pay the President two dollars a share, was opportune." Would You Buy Anything From This Man? What is significant about these facts is not the specific details of each deal but rather the patterns of association, of payoffs and protection, that they suggest. These are in actuality but a few examples of the connections which existed between Richard Nixon’s close friends and Organized Crime, not to mention the network that links Organized Crime to “legitimate business.” The fact that emerges in bold relief is that the President of the United States is virtually surrounded by men who are closely linked with the National Crime Syndicate.

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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