Editing Meyer Lansky (section)

==Career==
===Gambling operations, 1929–1945===
Luciano had a vision to form a [[national crime syndicate]] in which the Italian, Jewish, and Irish gangs could pool their resources and turn [[organized crime]] into a lucrative business for all—an organization he founded after a [[Atlantic City Conference|conference in Atlantic City]] organized by himself, Lansky, [[Johnny Torrio]], and [[Frank Costello]] in May 1929.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic_city/years-ago-the-mob-came-to-atlantic-city-for-a/article_3d2aedaa-856e-5e81-8e5a-9db020bed549.html?mode=image&photo=0 | title=80 years ago, the Mob came to Atlantic City for a little strategic planning | date=13 May 2009 | publisher=Press of Atlantic City | access-date=2012-08-06}}</ref><ref>Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized Crime," Cengage Learning, 2009, p. 115</ref><ref name=Saga>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080911231857/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/genovese1/2.html "Genovese family saga"]. ''Crime Library''.</ref>
{{stack|[[File:Lucky Luciano mugshot.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Lucky Luciano]], Lansky's partner in the [[American Mafia]].]]}}
Also, as early as 1932, Lansky shifted money from illegal activities in [[New Orleans]] to Swiss [[offshore accounts]]. The [[Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks|Swiss secrecy law]] from 1934 sanctioned the money laundering by "banks whose officials knew very well they were working for criminals".<ref name="dissent"/> By 1936, Lansky had established [[gambling]] operations in Florida<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-27-la-na-hometown-south-florida27-2010mar27-story.html |title=South Florida is 'open territory' for organized crime|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=27 March 2010|accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref> and Cuba.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/spoiled-by-mobsters-daughter-of-meyer-lansky-recalls-family-men-not-killers/2184266/|title=How Jews Shaped Miami Beach|accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref> These gambling operations were founded upon two innovations:

* Lansky and his connections had the technical expertise to manage them effectively based upon Lansky's knowledge of the mathematical odds of most popular wagering games.
* Mob connections and bribed law enforcement were used to ensure their establishments' legal and physical security from other crime figures and law enforcement.

There was also an absolute rule of integrity concerning the games and wagers made within their establishments. Lansky's "carpet joints" in Florida and elsewhere were never "[[clip joint]]s", where gamblers were unsure whether the games were rigged. Lansky ensured that the staff administering the games were of high integrity.

===World War II involvement, 1938–1945===
In the 1930s, Lansky and his gang stepped outside their usual criminal activities to break up rallies held by the pro-[[Nazi]] [[German-American Bund]]. He recalled a particular rally in [[Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville]], a German neighborhood in [[Manhattan]], that he and 14 associates disrupted:

{{blockquote|The stage was decorated with a swastika and a picture of Adolf Hitler. The speakers started ranting. There were only fifteen of us, but we went into action. We threw some of them out the windows. Most of the Nazis panicked and ran out. We chased them and beat them up. We wanted to show them that Jews would not always sit back and accept insults.<ref>{{cite web|title=How Jewish Gangsters Fought the Nazis |url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/but-they-were-good-to-their-people/2/|quote=Lansky recalled breaking up a Brown Shirt rally in the Yorkville section of Manhattan: "The stage was decorated with a swastika and a picture of Hitler. The speakers started ranting. There were only fifteen of us, but we went into action. We ... threw some of them out the windows ... Most of the Nazis panicked and ran out. We chased them and beat them up…We wanted to show them that Jews would not always sit back and accept insults."|publisher=[[American Jewish Historical Society]] |first=Michael |last=Feldberg <!-- no date on piece --> |access-date=2007-09-25}}</ref>}}
When Judge [[Nathan D. Perlman]] offered to pay Lansky for his services, he declined:<blockquote>I am a Jew, and I feel for the Jews in Europe who are suffering. They are my brothers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lovy |first=Howard |date=2022-06-06 |title=Before WWII, Jewish mobsters kept Nazis at bay in the US — with their fists |url=https://www.jta.org/2022/06/06/culture/before-wwii-jewish-mobsters-kept-nazis-at-bay-in-the-us-with-their-fists |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>During [[World War II]], Lansky was instrumental in helping the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] (ONI)'s [[Operation Underworld]], in which the government recruited criminals to watch out for German infiltrators and submarine-borne saboteurs. Lansky helped arrange a deal with the government via a high-ranking [[United States Navy]] official that secured Luciano's release from prison; in exchange, the Mafia provided security for the warships being built along the docks in [[New York Harbor]]. German submarines were sinking [[Allied Powers of World War II|Allied]] ships in great numbers along the eastern seaboard and the Caribbean coast, and there was great fear of attack or sabotage by Nazi sympathizers. Lansky connected the ONI with Luciano, who reportedly instructed [[Joseph Lanza]] to prevent sabotage on the New York waterfront.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usmm.org/shipsunkdamaged.html |title=U.S. Merchant Ships Sunk or Damaged in World War II |publisher=Usmm.org |date=1945-06-13 |access-date=2014-01-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/project-underworld-the-u-s-navys-secret-pact-with-the-mafia/ |title=Project Underworld: The U.S. Navy's Secret Pact with the Mafia |publisher=warfarehistorynetwork.com |date=2017-01-13 |access-date=2017-02-23 |archive-date=2016-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008003820/http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/project-underworld-the-u-s-navys-secret-pact-with-the-mafia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===The Flamingo Hotel, 1946–1947===
In 1946, Lansky convinced the [[American Mafia|Italian-American Mafia]] to put Siegel in charge of [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]], and became a major investor in Siegel's [[Flamingo Hotel]]. To protect himself from the type of prosecution that sent [[Al Capone]] to prison for [[Tax avoidance and tax evasion|tax evasion]] and prostitution, Lansky transferred his growing casino empire's illegal earnings to a [[Swiss bank account]], where anonymity was assured by the [[Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks|1934 Swiss Banking Act]]. Lansky eventually bought an [[offshore bank]] in Switzerland, which he used to [[money laundering|launder money]] through a network of [[shell companies|shell]] and holding companies.<ref name="dissent">{{Cite news |last=Komisar |first=Lucy |date=2003-04-01 |title=Offshore Banking: The Secret Threat to America |url=https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2003/04/offshore-banking-the-secret-threat-to-america/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |work=Dissent |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1946, Lansky attended a [[Havana Conference|secret meeting in Havana]] to discuss Siegel's management of the Flamingo Hotel, which was running far behind schedule and costing Siegel's Mafia investors a great deal of money. The other bosses wanted to kill Siegel, but Lansky begged them to give his friend a second chance.<ref name=tjenglish>{{cite book | first=T.J. | last=English |author-link=T.J. English |title=Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost it to the Revolution | publisher=MJF Books | year = 2008 | isbn= 978-1-60671-198-9}}</ref>{{rp|36–38}}

Despite this reprieve, Siegel continued to lose money on the Flamingo. A second meeting was then called. By the time the meeting occurred, the casino had turned a small profit. With Luciano's support, Lansky convinced the other investors to give Siegel more time. When the hotel started losing money again, the other investors decided that Siegel was finished. It is widely believed that Lansky was compelled to give the final okay on eliminating Siegel due to his long relationship with him and his stature in the organization.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

On June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot and killed in [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]], [[California]]. Twenty minutes later, Lansky's associates, including [[Gus Greenbaum]] and [[Moe Sedway]], walked into the Flamingo and took control of it. According to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], Lansky retained a substantial financial interest in the Flamingo for the next 20 years. Lansky said in several interviews later in his life that if it had been up to him, "Ben Siegel would be alive today".{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Siegel's death marked a power transfer in Vegas from New York's [[Five Families]] to the [[Chicago Outfit]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Although his role was considerably more restrained than in previous years, Lansky is believed to have both advised and aided Chicago boss [[Tony Accardo]] in initially establishing his hold.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

===Cuba, 1946–1959===
After World War II, as a reward for his wartime service, Luciano's sentence was commuted to time served. His release was conditioned on his agreeing not to contest the revocation of his American citizenship and accept deportation to his native Italy.<ref name="dewey commutes">{{cite news|title=Dewey Commutes Luciano Sentence|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/01/04/93012913.pdf|access-date=June 16, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 4, 1946}}</ref> After arriving in Italy, Luciano settled in [[Sicily]]. He secretly moved to Cuba, where he worked to resume control over Mafia operations. Luciano also ran a number of casinos in Cuba with the sanction of Cuban dictator [[Fulgencio Batista]]. Upon discovering Luciano's presence in Cuba and resumption of criminal activity, the U.S. government pressured Batista into deporting Luciano to Italy.

Batista and Lansky formed a renowned friendship and business relationship that lasted a decade. During a stay at the [[Waldorf-Astoria Hotel]] in New York in the late 1940s, it was mutually agreed that, in exchange for [[kickback (bribery)|kickbacks]], Batista would offer Lansky and the Mafia control of the country's casinos and racetracks. Batista would open [[Havana]] to large-scale gambling, and his government would match, dollar for dollar, any hotel investment over {{Usd|1 million}}, which would include a casino license. Lansky would put himself at the center of Cuba's gambling operations. He immediately called on his associates to hold a summit in Havana.

The Havana Conference was held on December 22, 1946, at the [[Hotel Nacional de Cuba|Hotel Nacional]]. This was the first full-scale meeting of American underworld leaders since the Chicago meeting in 1932. Present were such figures as [[Joe Adonis]], [[Albert Anastasia|Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia]], [[Frank Costello]], [[Joseph Bonanno|Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno]], [[Vito Genovese]], [[Moe Dalitz]], [[Thomas Luchese]], from New York; [[Santo Trafficante Jr.]] from [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]]; [[Carlos Marcello]] from the [[New Orleans crime family]]; and [[Stefano Magaddino]], Bonanno's cousin from [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]. From Chicago there were Accardo and the Fischetti brothers, [[Charles Fischetti|"Trigger-Happy" Charlie]] and [[Rocco Fischetti]]; and, representing the Jewish interest, Lansky, Dalitz and "Dandy" [[Phillip Kastel|Phil Kastel]] from Florida.

The first to arrive was Luciano, who secretly traveled to Havana on a false passport. Lansky shared with the attendees his vision of a new Havana, profitable for those willing to invest the right sum of money. According to Luciano, the only attendee who ever recounted the events in any detail, he was appointed as kingpin for the mob, to rule from Cuba until such time as he could find a legitimate way back into the U.S. Entertainment at the conference was provided by, among others, [[Frank Sinatra]], who had flown to Cuba with his friends, the Fischetti brothers.

In 1952, Lansky offered then-[[President of Cuba]] [[Carlos Prío Socarrás]] a bribe of {{Usd|250,000}} to step down so Batista could return to power. Once Batista retook control of the government in a military coup in March 1952, he quickly put gambling back on track. Batista offered Lansky an annual salary of {{Usd|25,000}} to serve as an unofficial gambling minister. By 1955, he had changed the gambling laws again, granting a gaming license to anyone who invested {{Usd|1 million}} in a hotel or {{Usd|200,000}} in a new nightclub. Unlike the procedure for acquiring gaming licenses in Vegas, this provision exempted [[venture capitalist]]s from background checks. As long as they made the required investment, they were given public matching funds for construction, a ten-year tax exemption and duty-free importation of equipment and furnishings. The government would get {{Usd|250,000}} for the license, plus a percentage of the profits from each casino. Cuba's 10,000 [[slot machines]], even the ones that dispensed small prizes for children at country fairs, were to be the province of Roberto Fernandez y Miranda, the brother of Batista's wife, [[Marta Fernandez Miranda de Batista]].

A Cuban army general and government sports director, Fernandez was also given the parking meters in Havana as an extra bonus. Import duties were waived on materials for hotel construction, and Cuban contractors with the right "in" made windfalls by importing much more than was needed and selling the surplus to others for hefty profits. It was rumored that besides the {{Usd|250,000}} to get a license, sometimes more was required under the table. Periodic payoffs were requested and received by corrupt politicians.

Lansky set about reforming the Cabaret Montmartre, which soon became the "in" place in Havana. He also installed a casino at the Hotel Nacional, relying on Batista's support.

===Cuban Revolution and flight to Bahamas (1959 and the 1960s)===
The 1959 [[Cuban Revolution]] and the rise of [[Fidel Castro]] changed the climate for mob investment in Cuba. On New Year's Eve 1958, while Batista was preparing to flee to the [[Dominican Republic]] before settling permanently in [[Francoist Spain|Francoist]] [[Spain]], where he died in exile in 1973, Lansky was celebrating the US$3 million he made in the first year of operations at his 440-room, US$8 million palace, the Habana Riviera. Many of the casinos, including several of Lansky's, were looted and destroyed that night. Lansky fled on January 7 to the Bahamas. In Nassau the [[Bay Street Boys]] were ruling.<ref name="mafia">{{Cite news |date=2024 |title=Mafia und Banken (1/3) - Die Pionierzeit - Die ganze Doku |url=https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/102289-001-A/mafia-und-banken-1-3/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |work=Arte |language=de}}</ref> On January 8, 1959, Castro and his revolutionaries took control of Havana, setting up a command post in the Hilton. The new Cuban president, [[Manuel Urrutia Lleó]], took steps to close the casinos. In October 1960, Castro nationalized all the island's hotel-casinos and outlawed gambling.

After the revolution, Lansky sought compensation for losses in Cuba from the U.S. government.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024|reason=Prior citations did not back up this claim.}}

===Sexual blackmail and J. Edgar Hoover===
Lansky is credited with having "controlled" compromising pictures of a sexual nature featuring former FBI director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] with his longtime aide [[Clyde Tolson]]. In his book, ''Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover'', Anthony Summers cites multiple primary sources regarding Lansky's use of blackmail to gain influence with politicians, policemen and judges. One stage of the acquisition of blackmail materials was orgies held by late attorney and Hoover protégé [[Roy Cohn]] and liquor magnate [[Lewis Rosenstiel]], who had lasting ties with the Mafia from his bootleg operations during [[Prohibition]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/02/06/New-book-pictures-J-Edgar-Hoover-as-drag-queen/1064728974800/|title = New book pictures J. Edgar Hoover as drag queen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpUaYvBsW-MC&q=lewis+rosenstiel&pg=PT11|title = Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover|isbn = 9781453241189|last1 = Summers|first1 = Anthony|year= 2012| publisher=Open Road Media }}</ref>

The 2019 release of FBI files on Lansky<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/11/30/20984974/fbi-files-meyer-lansky-powerful-new-york-mob-figures-chicago-ties-paul-ricca-capone-syndicate|title = FBI files reveal powerful New York mob figure's Chicago ties|date = 30 November 2019}}</ref> revealed extensive monitoring and investigation, which makes it harder to explain why Lansky was not pursued to conviction, unless he evaded it by blackmail. Cohn copied this model of blackmail to control politicians and evade conviction himself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/27/fbi-releases-file-on-trumps-late-lawyer-roy-cohn.html|title = FBI releases files on President Trump's late lawyer, Roy Cohn|website = [[CNBC]]|date = 27 September 2019}}</ref>{{Failed verification|talk=Roy Cohn|date=January 2025}}

===Attempted emigration and trial (1970–72)===
In 1970, Lansky fled to [[Herzliya Pituah]], [[Israel]], to escape federal tax evasion charges in the United States. He was a strong sympathizer with Israel.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Calhoun |first=Ricky-Dale |date=2007 |title=Arming David: The Haganah's Illegal Arms Procurement Network in the United States, 1945–49 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jps.2007.36.4.22 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=22–32 |doi=10.1525/jps.2007.36.4.22 |jstor=10.1525/jps.2007.36.4.22 |issn=0377-919X}}</ref> At the time Israeli law did not permit the extradition of Israeli citizens, and under the [[Law of Return]], any Jew could legally settle in Israel and [[naturalize]]. The Israeli government reserved the right to exclude Jews with a criminal past from settling in the country. Two years after his arrival, Lansky was deported back to the U.S. The federal government brought Lansky to trial with the testimony of loan shark [[Vincent Teresa|Vincent "Fat Vinnie" Teresa]]. Lansky was acquitted in 1973.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1973-07-26 |title=LANSKY ACQUITTED OF EVADING TAXES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/26/archives/lansky-acquitted-of-evading-taxes-reputed-underworld-figure-wins.html |access-date=2024-01-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>