Meyer Lansky

Maier Suchowljansky, known professionally as Meyer Lansky, was a Russian-born Jewish crime figure who operated as the paramount financial architect and intermediary for organised crime throughout the mid-twentieth century.

He was a central figure in the development of interethnic criminal cooperation in the United States, specifically between Jewish and Italian-American syndicates, and was a primary founder of the National Crime Syndicate.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Lansky was primarily associated with large-scale gambling enterprises and illicit finance rather than narcotics trafficking. Despite nearly fifty years of intensive scrutiny and investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, his only adult conviction was for illegal gambling.

Early Life and Criminal Origins

Maier Suchowljansky was born on July 4, 1902, in Grodno, Russia, to a Polish-Jewish family. He immigrated to the United States through the port of Odessa in 1911, joining his father in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

During his childhood, he established a lifelong friendship and criminal partnership with Benjamin Bugsy Siegel, with whom he managed the Bugs and Meyer Mob, a group noted for its extreme violence during the Prohibition era.

As a teenager, Lansky encountered Charles Lucky Luciano when the latter attempted to extort him for protection money. Lansky’s defiant refusal to submit to these threats earned Luciano's respect, leading to a permanent alliance that bridged ethnic boundaries between Jewish and Italian gangs.

They associated with the veteran gangster Arnold Rothstein until his death in 1928, learning the sophisticated financial methods that would later define their operations.

The National Crime Syndicate

Lansky and Luciano were the primary organisers of the 1929 Atlantic City Conference, the first full-scale meeting of American underworld leaders.

This summit aimed to unify competing gangs into a national structure to manage resources efficiently and eliminate internecine warfare following the end of the Castellammarese War.

Within this framework, Lansky functioned as the chairman of the board and the syndicate's accountant, responsible for collecting and dividing profits from various enterprises.

He introduced several innovations to criminal management, most notably applying mathematical expertise to wagering games to ensure consistent profits without the need for rigged equipment.

His gambling establishments, known as carpet joints, were managed with high technical integrity to maintain customer confidence and were secured through the systematic bribery of law enforcement and political figures.

Anti-Fascist and Wartime Activities

During the late 1930s, Lansky utilised his criminal network to combat the spread of Nazi influence in the United States.

At the request of local political figures, he and his associates violently disrupted rallies held by the pro-Nazi German American Bund in Manhattan, motivated by a commitment to defending the Jewish people.

In World War II, Lansky was instrumental in Operation Underworld, a collaboration between the Office of Naval Intelligence and organised crime.

He facilitated a deal that secured Luciano's release from prison in exchange for the Mafia providing security at New York Harbor to prevent German sabotage and assisting with intelligence for the invasion of Sicily.

During this same era, he established a significant illegal arms procurement network in the United States to support Zionist forces in the 1948 war.

Financial Innovation and the Skimming System

Lansky established the modern framework for money laundering and tax evasion. As early as 1932, he began transferring illegal earnings to Swiss offshore accounts, taking advantage of the 1934 Swiss Banking Act which ensured anonymity for depositors.

He eventually acquired an offshore bank in Switzerland and utilised a vast network of shell and holding companies to reintegrate illicit funds into legitimate investments, such as real estate and corporate debentures.

He held a substantial financial interest in the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, which had been managed by Siegel until his assassination in 1947.

Following Siegel's death, control of the Las Vegas Strip transitioned from New York crime families to the Chicago Outfit, with Lansky acting as an advisor and facilitator for the transfer.

Behind the scenes of these resorts, Lansky managed the skimming process, whereby undeclared and untaxed cash was removed from casino profits before being distributed to syndicate members.

Operations in Cuba

Lansky was the central figure in the Havana Mob, which dominated the casino and hotel industry in Cuba during the 1940s and 1950s.

He maintained a deep personal and business relationship with President Fulgencio Batista, who appointed Lansky as an unofficial gambling minister with a formal salary.

In exchange for substantial kickbacks and license fees, Batista allowed Lansky to open Havana to large-scale gambling, with the Cuban government providing matching funds for hotel construction.

Lansky’s efforts culminated in the construction of the Habana Riviera, a luxury palace that generated three million dollars in its first year of operation.

The 1959 Cuban Revolution and the rise of Fidel Castro resulted in the total collapse of these investments.

Castro nationalised the island's hotel-casinos and outlawed gambling, forcing Lansky to flee to the Bahamas. Lansky later attempted to oust Castro, allegedly offering a million dollars to mercenaries for his assassination.

Geopolitical Influence and Presidential Assassinations

Organised crime figures, including those associated with Lansky, wielded immense influence over the American political apparatus through blackmail and corruption.

Lansky obtained hard evidence of FBI Director J Edgar Hoover’s homosexual relationship with Clyde Tolson, using this information to prevent federal intervention into syndicate activities for decades.

In 1960, the Chicago Syndicate, closely allied with Lansky, utilised its control over urban political machinery to deliver the crucial votes that placed John F Kennedy in the White House.

A significant body of circumstantial evidence suggests that Lansky and his collaborators played a central role in the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy.

The primary motive for this conspiracy was the intense conflict between the Kennedy administration and the Israeli government over the latter’s secret nuclear weapons development programme at Dimona (Dimona Nuclear Reactor).

Kennedy had applied severe pressure to stop the production of plutonium in Israel, a policy that was immediately reversed by his successor, Lyndon B Johnson.

Lansky, a fervent supporter of Israel, presided over the Jewish wing of organised crime that had extensive ties to Jack Ruby, the man who silenced the alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby himself stated that he committed the act for the Jewish people.

Exile, Trial, and Final Years

In 1970, Lansky fled to Israel to escape federal tax evasion charges, staying in the Tel Aviv area for two years.

Although he sought permanent naturalisation under the Law of Return, the Israeli government eventually rejected his application, categorising him as an unsavoury character likely to endanger public order.

Following his deportation to the United States in 1972, he was brought to trial on the testimony of various informants but was acquitted in 1973.

Lansky died of lung cancer on January 15, 1983, in Miami Beach. While law enforcement and media accounts estimated his hidden wealth to be as high as 300 million dollars, no verified cache of assets was ever identified.

His estate at the time of his death was modest, and his biographer concluded that his financial control had been greatly exaggerated through criminal mythology.