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About Mobster Louis ‘Lepke’ Buchalter

January 26, 2016 by admin in

According to historians, Louis was considered to be very bad right from the time of his birth. He had killed with great relish, was strong armed and swindled people in huge numbers. However, for his crimes, he was considered to be the only Mafia boss, who went to die at the electric chair of Sing Sing prison.

His early life

It was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that Buchalter was born on 12th February 1897. His father was the owner of a hardware store and was a Russian Jew. As a child, Buchalter had an uneventful life. He was called affectionately by his mother as ‘Lepkeleh’, which means ‘Little Louis’ in Yiddish. But his friends shorted it to Lepke, something that struck for the rest of the life.

Life as a Mafia

But at 13, his life took a drastic turn, with his father dying unexpectedly and mother facing serious health conditions, compelling her to leave for Arizona. Lepke was under the guidance of his elder sister, who found him to be unmanageable. He left school and could be found hanging on Lower East Side streets seeking trouble. He started to mix with the older gangsters and learnt to steal and rob. He was apprehended when robbing a store in 1915, but still continued this life.  During one of his criminal endeavors, he met Jacob ‘Gurrah’ Shapiro and became fast friends for life. Teaming up, they became a real menace. He was sentenced to Sing Sing Prison, where he became a master in crime and now was a hardened thug. Along with Shapiro, went to New York City and asking protection money from bakeries. There they joined ‘The Gorilla Boys’ to make it big. With Lepke’s murdering of Orgen, his gang got into big time and was regarded instant stars of the underworld.

This is where Shapiro and Lepke enjoyed, since they were had about 250 thugs working under them and getting protection money from garment centers, poultry business, restaurants, dieing and cleaning business, earning over $10 million estimated amount a year. To be on the right side of the law, they had changed the original name of the Mafia family from ‘Gorilla Boys’ to ‘Gold Dust Twins’.

Later, he along with Schultz, Luciano, Costello, Siegel, Lansky, Lucchese and Anastasia had formed the national crime syndicate, thereby controlling all illegal activities within the northeast and mid west. It was Thomas E. Dewey, a Special Prosecutor who had created trouble for Lepke. It was on 4th March, 1944 that Lepke being stiffed by best friends got executed by the law enforcement officials.

Trivia #6

January 26, 2016 by admin in

Login in the game first before submitting your answers! If you were not logged in before, login in the game then refresh the page before submitting your answers. The player with the highest score wins. In the case of a tie, the pot is split. Cheating will prevent your from playing in the future. Sharing your answers with others will decrease your chances of winning the prize.

[viralQuiz id=7]

What is distinctive about the Mafia Family?

January 25, 2016 by admin in

The Mafia families are powerful criminal organizations that dominate the criminal activities that place in the region of their hold. It has been seen that the Mafia family heads are mostly those individuals, who do not have proper educational backgrounds or are uneducated. Most of them are said to have undergone little schooling, but possess capabilities to run big profitable organizations, where their existence is against the law. The Mafia members operate openly in free marketing system, as well as in those places, where communism rules. Furthermore, they do flourish in both the environments. The members and the leaders are more focused on objectives and results and use whatever means available at their disposal for achieving such objectives. The Mafia can be termed to be business that functions like that of a corporation.

Value systems

There are many who may assume that the Mafia Family has different value system, the reason why this organization has been operating in this manner. As a matter of fact, the values shared by most corporations and the Mafia are the same, however, with the game’s rule being different. The employees of the Mafia are treated fairly and its values gives back to the community, thereby creating opportunities for the unemployed, benefitting the society,  by having the law enforcement under its feet. It is also said that the Mafia families supports the workforce and huge budgets of several law enforcement agencies. Although considered to be evil, they have been investing in Corporate America.

Operation principles of the Mafia

  • Trust needs to be earned and not given
  • Not to forget, but forgive
  • Without power, the sharks are likely to get you
  • Deception game is to be learnt and to be used
  • The results are not to be focused upon, but achieving of the objective
  • To perform what is done best and for the rest employ others
  • Better to more always than what is taken
  • Keep in mind those who have supported and favored
  • Forgive those, having tried to harm (since any person may be required in any given circumstance. Once in power, people having hatred are sure to become best friends and also be loyal)
  • The fights are to be picked and chosen carefully (since the person has to live to fight the other day)
  • Speak only what is required and be blunt.

 

It is the above mentioned aspects that make the Mafia to be distinctive from that of a corporation.

The Underworld Prime Minister – Mobster Frank Costello

January 25, 2016 by admin in

Francesco Castiglia or Frank Costello as he was known was born in 1891 in the mountain village of Calabria, named Lauropoli, in Italy. His father had moved to the New York City in 1893 alone, where in East Harlem, he had set up a grocery shop and to save money for sending to his family. It was Edward, the elder brother of Frank who had the latter to get involved with petty crimes.

Initial criminal activities of Frank

Costello, at the small age of 14 had worn over his face a black handkerchief and robbed his landlady, who had recognized him. But being smart, he avoided arrest. But in 1908 and 1912, he got arrested for robbery and assault and somehow is known to have beaten both raps.

For carrying illegal firearms, he got sentenced for a year in prison in 1915 at the age of 24. The decade that followed, he got involved with numerous criminal activities, but for the next 37 years, he had never been imprisoned in a jail cell. He had sworn to himself of never carrying a gun after he was released from jail.

His relationship

On his release, he had met Loretta Geigerman, a Jewish woman and married her, something that was considered to be unusual for the Italian to marry someone outside the Catholic faith. Being different in his thought and approach, he had forged relationships with several Jewish gangsters, which included the well known Mafiosi of that time like Busy Siegel, Louie ‘Lepke’ Buchalter and Meyer Lansky. After marriage, he worked for ‘The Clutch Hand’ murderous Joe Morello. It was he along with Igazio Saietta ‘Lupo the Wolf’ responsible towards the extortion Black Hand racket.

He met Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano when working for Morello, a Sicilian running rackets within Little Italy, on Manhattan’s lower east side. Through him, he strengthened his relationship with mobsters like Tommy Lucchese, Vito Genovese, Siegel and Lansky. Together, they become involved heavily in armed robbery, extortion, burglaries, dealing drugs and gambling activities. With The Volstead Act made law in 1920, the prohibition era started. It is during this time that Costello along with his pals made it big, bringing illegal alcohol from Canada and even England. The entire operation was financed by Arnold Rothstein.

It was in 1973 that he breathed his last due to heart attack at the Manhattan hospital. He got buried in Queens St. Michael Cemetery.

Similarities noticed between Corporate America and the Mafia

January 25, 2016 by admin in

Corporate America and the industry of Hollywood Mafia are said to share similar operational abilities. For instance, the Bonnono Mafia Family being run by Jack Welch and General Motors by Al Capone. Movies, which are larger than life, tend to replicate reality.

Similarity in functioning

Specific values and rules are said to exist in any core relationship. Working for the Mafia is similar to having the suit put on and working for GM. However, the only difference here is that the rules by which each entity is said to operate. The only business of the Mafia is to make profits and so is the corporation which has opened up to earn profits. The very purpose of the existence of any entity is to have its personal agenda to be fulfilled, but the difference noticed between the two is the means that is used for attaining the needs. Corporation exists for a specific purpose and so is the Mafia organization. They both are organized entity sets, which are governed through set of rules that get driven by values of the founding members.

Some similarities

  • Honesty and Loyalty: They are characteristics which are part of the entities. The Mafia as well as corporate America search for employees who would honestly and loyally serve their need and purpose.
  • Strategy derived from top: It is the top from where strategies are derived. CEO and executives is the people who decide as to where the corporation is to head. Similarly, the decision in the Mafia Family comes from Godfather and board of directors. The Don, councilor and the under don are the main decision makers.
  • Policy & Procedures and Rules: Rules are present in the Mafia that needs to be adhered to by its members for smooth operation. The corporation does have procedures and policy in place which their employees are to follow and implement.
  • Association and power politics: Individuals within the Corporation or Mafia work towards attaining power through association and politics. In the corporate setting, if the person is well connected and liked, then he is sure to move higher the ladder quickly. Similar, the person is made a Goodfella, a made man in the Mafia for good behavior and well liked.
  • Titles vs. Ranks: Ranks are significant in the Mafia, since it determines the position of the person within the organization and his scope of authority. Same aspect goes for the corporation, where it is the title which determines the significance of the individual along with his authority and scope.

Mafia in Las Vegas

January 25, 2016 by admin in

Mafia in Las Vegas

It was the Mafia members who had helped the city of Las Vegas to grow into a legal gambling hub and resort. Much of the contribution towards this aspect was made by Mafioso Meyer Lansky, who in order to avoid blame, incase, the Las Vegas gambling project failed, had enlisted the task to Bugsy Siegel.

Setting up of casinos

The job of Siegel was very clear cut, towards raising enthusiasm and cash from the other Mafia families in the region and in other cities of the United States. With pressures from the Mafia, the first casino in Las Vegas, ‘Flamingo’ had a shaky start, as it had been compelled to be opened much ahead of schedule. There were also other troubles faced by Siegel, who is known to have skimmed off a good amount of money from Mafia controlled Union’s pension funds and construction money. The Mafia with this discovery had demanded their money to be returned back, giving a deadline. It was Flamingo’s success that the hopes of Bugsy were pinned upon. He got assassinated by the Mafia Families, who thought the poor start would mean they will not be able to retrieve their cash.

Success

After Flamingo was taken over by Lansky, its fortuned turned. Within a year, this casino achieved immense success and was profiting manifolds of its investments. It is this success which had prompted the other Mafias to get into the scene and make Las Vegas their playfield.

Involvement of other Mafias in Las Vegas

With the approval of the Mafia, over $50 Million were used from the Union’s Pension Funds. The New York Mafia families were joined by the Chicago Outfit by 1950s. Three major casinos were run by the Outfit, which included the Riviera, Desert Inn and Stardust. Later in 1960’s, the new additions were Golden Nugget, The Hacienda, Fremont and Sahara casinos.

Handling competition

With several Mafia Families getting involved in building resorts, competition increased and concerns grew over profit sharing. A deal was agreed upon by the different Mafia Families to give each on an interlocking share in other Mafia’s resort and the piece received by everyone was huge.

But from 1960s, the Mafias of Las Vegas saw their fall, with Howard Hughes, an eccentric  and reclusive billionaire managing to get some changes within the Nevada law to forbid corporations in buying interests in resorts, casinos and hotels. But, in his venture, he lost money. During the 1980s, the FBI attacked all Mafia interests and casinos were cleaned and sold to owners who were legitimate, who went on to change the very look of the city, thereby making it a family based vacation hotspot.

Emergence of the Mafia in Las Vegas

January 25, 2016 by admin in

Mafia and Las Vegas as a casino city

The Mafia has always regarded gambling to be an important business. Right from betting on horses, to card games and other types of sports, the members of the Mafia are said to have earned huge from them. Also, they did operate several luxurious and illegal gambling operations across the U.S. Law enforcement agencies and Police Officers were considered to be on the payroll of the different Mafia families that operated in Las Vegas and beyond and hence, ignored all their illegal operations, thereby protecting their activities and enhancing their growth and power. But a significant event that took place in 1931 completely changed casinos and gambling history in the U.S., with the Nevada State legalizing gambling.

History

Las Vegas during the early 1940s was regarded to be a dirty town located in the desert middle with just few junk food diners, slot machine emporiums and gas stations. It was not a good place for residing or doing business. It was only after the ending of the Second World War that moneymaking potentiality was discovered by the Mafias in this part of the country. It was with great interest that the town had been eyed by Al Capone. However, his plans of making the place into a haven for casinos and hotels for travelers and tourists were never completed.

Emergence of the Mafias in Las Vegas

This place remained Mafia free for a long time, until its potentiality was discovered by Mafioso Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. Before its formation, travelers had to visit Cuba for enjoying their time. The highly corrupt Batista regime had then welcomed gangsters in Cuba and casinos made huge profits. With the revolution by Fidel Castro and opening of the very first casino at Las Vegas compelled people with no other option to choose this city for legal gambling.

It was the excellent organizational skill and imagination of Siegel as well as Mafia money that the initial gambling resort of the city named ‘The Flamingo ‘was launched on 26th December 1946. Thus began the first of several Mafia financed resorts, while Las Vegas is said to have proved to be a highly profitable as well as legal business for Mafia members. It was due to the efforts, organizational and innovation skills of the different Mafia that the once dull desert town, has been presently converted into the much glitzy ‘Strip’ that is visited by tourists not only from within the country, but from all parts of the world to get indulged in gambling and to seek pleasures.

Knowing about the deep symbolism associated with Russian Mafia tattoos

January 25, 2016 by admin in

The fact is that people in general are just dimly aware as to what is the truth behind the tattoos of the Russian Mafia. Perhaps one must  have come across ‘Eastern Promises’,  a multi award winning and much acclaimed movie which has starred Viggo Mortensen, where he is said to  portray the role of a driver working for the son of Russian Mafia boss. His body has been riddled with several tattoos, which traces his history to the Russian world of crime, which is Vory v Zakone.

Significance of the tattoos among the Russian mafia members

This Mafia film is genuinely worth watching and does show clearly the importance of tattoos that are in vogue with the Russian Mafia. However, such tattoos are considered to be much more than mere body art, with each symbol and picture depicting with some meaning or the other. The life story of  the person having the tattoo can be know, which includes his prison sentences, sins, rank he had possessed, his origin and the number of people killed by him.

Furthermore, the tattoos are regarded to be deeply symbolic, while unraveling properly the meanings that are behind its creation, which can be understood only by the Russian Mafia members. Often, the used symbols tend to be of religious in nature and may include churches and cathedrals having number of spires, which indicate the different times, the person had been in prison.

Who is given the tattoo?

When a person is initiated into the Mafia, as a new recruit, he is given a tattoo, which is engraved on his chest, incorporating a rose. With their rising in the Russian Mafia rankings, they are given more tattoos and once they become a captain, finally they are provided with a star on the shoulder as well as on the knees,  for indicating that they are not to kneel before anyone.

Culture

The Russian Mafia tattoo culture is said to have its origination in Gulag, a Siberian prison, known to be among the world’s toughest prisons. A stringent conduct code is followed by the criminals, similar to that of the Italian Mafia. Members who may falsely tattoo themselves for pretending to have achieved certain things which actually they have not or inflating their ranks, often are punished to death. Moreover, if the code is broken, then a tattoo depicting sexual nature is often forced to be had on a prominent place of the body like the forehead. They are designed specifically for embarrassing the wearer.

Fall and Rise of the Sicilian Mafia

January 25, 2016 by admin in

It is very much tough to identify the Cosa Nostra or Sicilian Mafia’s beginning. The reason is because of the lack of any kind of historical record keeping and the Mafia’s secretive nature. In Sicily’s history, an upheaval was witnessed in 1812, when this island community had converted to capitalist government form from that of a feudalist. It was during that time that the Cosa Nostra might have begun or later in the 1860, with the annexation of the island by mainland Italy.

Written references

There were found some written references pertaining to Sicilian Mafia in 1864, prepared by Palermo National Guard leader named Nicollo Colonna. His writings had depicted about a sect of robbers that had been operating across the island. Special signals were used by this sect for recognizing one another.  In most of the regions, they enjoyed political protection and was abiding by a loyalty code, made efforts to avoid any kind of interaction with police officials. The sect was only made stronger and popular with the brutal attempts of the Italian governments, according to the warnings of Colonna.

Crushing of the Mafia under Mussolini

With fascist rule in Italy under Benito Mussolini, a campaign was initiated in 1925 for destroying Cosa Nostra as well as its political allies. For this purpose, Palermo’s prefect, Cesare Mori was appointed and provided with special powers for attacking the Mafia.

Mafiosi’s children and wives were held hostage for forcing them to surrender and more than 11,000 arrests had been made. Trials in huge numbers were held and 1,200+ men had been convicted and imprisoned. There were many who had been exiled without any trial. However, as the proclamation of the Fascist, Cosa Nostra was not completely destroyed, but most of the families did break up.

Revival of the Mafia

With the invasion of the Allied troops in 1943, the Sicilian Mafia resurfaced, with the ensuing chaos and there were noticed soaring crime rates and inmates escaping prisons, while black market thrived. With an intention to have the Fascist mayors to be replaced, the Allies unknowingly had appointed several Mafiosi. Having gained power and control of the island’s construction, the cement plants, metal depots and quarries, there was no looking back. Protection money was extorted from the construction firms and wholesalers if they were not members. By 1982, about 80% of heroin trade was controlled by the Mafia in the northeastern part of the United States.

Emergence and the strengthening of the Mafia families in Sicily

January 22, 2016 by admin in

The Mafia is known to have originated from Sicily and hence, it is termed to be their motherland. The beautiful land of Sicily located within the Mediterranean Sea is said to be infested with limitless series of assassinations, crime and vendetta. Sicilian Mafia is considered to be around 100 Mafia Family’s loose confederation, with every family claiming sovereignty over a specific territory, generally a bigger city’s neighborhood, town or village. The single Mafia families had been the only rule bodies in the region for several years and remained actual centers of powers, although subordinate bodies had been created in 1950’s such as Sicilian Mafia Commission.

Role models or criminals!

Majority of the Sicilian population had regarded the Mafia to  be role models for everyone and not as mere criminals, someone who can be imitated and followed, since the weak, poor and oppressed were not offered any protection from the ruling government. Even during the 1950s, the Mafioso was regarded by the common people with high respect, someone who stood for greatness of characters, defense of rights and respect of law. The Mafia in Sicily once had stood for something such as honor, pride and also social responsibility. At the same time, being a Mafioso did mean, being generous, noble and honorable.

Re-emergence of the Mafia in Sicily

It was the aftermath of the 1848 and 1860 revolution that Sicily had was into complete anarchy and disorder. During the revolt, the early Mafia families, being small outlaw bands had offered their services to fight to curb the revolt. The reason behind it was to avail the opportunity to have their police records and other evidences to be burnt up and to kill those witnesses and police in the ensuing chaos. But then a new government had been established, thereby making it impossible for the group to carry out their intended plans without state retaliation and prosecution. Hence, during the 19th century’s latter half, they started to have their techniques and methods to be refined. They found protecting local nobility’s large estates and lemon groves to be lucrative business. Their core area of operation then was Palermo, Sicily’s capital, however, their dominance due to patronization from the nobles got them to spread across Sicily. It was in the mid 19th century that the Mafia Families started to strengthen their bond between one another and formed organizations, so as to enhance greater profits and derive safer working condition for everyone.

Vito Cascioferro – The Legendary Mobster

January 20, 2016 by admin in

Vito Cascioferro – The Legendary Mobster

He is regarded to be a prominent boss, belonging to the Sicilian Mafia. He was also called Don Vito. There are many who claim him to be a legend and ‘Boss of Bosses’. It is in 1862, January 22 that he was born to a poor family and was raised in Bisacquino, a rural town. However, Palermo is his actual birthplace. Both his parents were illiterate and his father was working in Bisacquino as armed guard. Vito had started his career as revenue collector but he started to show interest in criminal activities like kidnapping, menacing, etc.

Rise to position as a Mafia

Vito got recruited by Bernardino Verro into the Sicilian League and soon with his smart and daring acts, he went on to become its President. A kidnapping case in 1901 had made him to sail towards America, to escape being caught by the police, where he worked as fruits importer in New York for about two years.

In the USA, he comes across the Morello Mafia family that he joined, but with the threat of being arrested in 1904, he went back to Sicily. Don Vito was described to be very intelligent by Luigi Barzini, a journalist and possessed great qualities. He was loved by everyone and wore the best clothes, was quite helpful and generous in nature.

His activities in Italy

Casciferro was described as a terrible criminal by Joe Pestrosino, who was an american cop, but was killed by the former. Due to lack of evidence, Vito’s case was sent to trial. Although in his lifetime, he got arrested numerous times, but never got convicted. Some writers are of the opinion that it was Vito who had murdered Joe.  According to the then police commissioner, the murder probably was orchestrated by others under the direction of Casciferro.

Mussolini, the Fascist leader in 1926 had ordered the destruction of the Mafia in Sicily and for this, he had given the responsibility to Prefect Cesare Mori. Cascioferro along with 150 members were arrested in the process. Vito got life term in 1930, where he died due to natural cause. But some writers feel that his death may be because of severe dehydration in 1943. But historians do consider that Vito Casciferro was indeed a great Mafia leader in Mafia history, who although had a short stint in the United States, was intelligent and capable enough to steer his band to safety.

The Lufthansa Heist – A legendary robbery

January 20, 2016 by admin in

There are hundreds of robberies that have taken place in the United States. Some are by chance, but few are considered to be planned out for a good amount of time and executed with great timing. Such robberies can be instances of expert master mind behind the plans. One such example is the Lufthansa Heist, which took place at the J.F.K. International Airport in 1978. This robbery according to historians was said to have taken place in well coordinated manner, with the robbers being successful to loot jewels amounting to $875,000 and cash of about $5 million. It is regarded to be the very first of its type in the whole U.S. history. This heist exposed the weakness of the law enforcement officials, which had left millions of citizens to be astonished and leaving at the mercy of the robbers and the Mafia families, with no adequate protection from the police and law enforcement officials.

Planning of the Heist

The plan to carry out the Lufthansa heist is known to have been drawn on Astoria Blvd., near LaGuardia Airport. It was the Mafia Jimmy Burke, who had come up with this master plan. With his associates, he had planned action during the Airline Diner. Information with regards to the airport was leaked out by knaves, who were one of the airport supervisor named Louis Werner and Peter Gruenwald, his co-worker. The reason for their participation in the plan and to pass on information to the Mafia was because they were immersed in huge debts and had to rely upon thefts.

They knew that American money flew once via Lufthansa airport in a month, which was used for tourists and servicemen living in West Germany to act as monetary exchange. The money within Lufthansa was stored inside a crypt at the Kennedy Airport. The information was passed on to the Burke in 1976. But it took two long years to be executed in 1978. The other associates involved in the plan as Henry Hill and Lucchese.

Ford Econolline van was used by the Mafia to reach the place, where loading of the vault was done. Cargo agents were injured during the raid a senior agent who was aware of the right key combination was forced towards opening up the crypt, after which the robbers got away with the cash.

It became thrilling news and two Hollywood movies and telefilms were directed having this incident depicted.