Friday, July 02, 2021

4739 Gangland Accountants

  Meyer Lansky (1902-1983) was known as “the mob’s accountant.”

 

Meyer Lansky was from Poland, he said, which wasn’t exactly true.  By the time anyone of importance asked, he was already a wheel in organized crime, so people believed him.  He was in with pals people like Bugsy Siegel and by the time he got together with Lucky Luciano, he was well established as a guy who knew figures.  And probabilities. And how to use them.

 

He also managed to acquire what are called “points” -- small chunks of, um, equity -- in casinos around the world where the aphorism “the house always wins” was born.  And true.  And although the papers called him “The Mob’s Accountant,” he was never convicted of anything. When he died the FBI said he left more than a quarter of a billion dollars to his family.  But all they ever found was $57 thousand.

 

All of which brings us to Allen Weisselberg, who is the chief financial officer of the former president donald trump’s shifting and shifty assortment of businesses.  Surely, he must be an expert in another aphorism, this one about robbing Peter to pay Paul.

 

Weisselberg’s been indicted in a tax scheme -- alleged, tax scheme, I suppose we’d better call it -- in which a few millions changed hands -- depending on how you value it -- without paying the vig to the IRS or the Good Men and Good Women of Albany, New York, which is easy to forget is the state capital.

 

The District Attorney of New York County likely doesn’t much care about any of Weisselberg’s doings.   What he cares about is what’s in the guy’s head.

 

What’s there?  Only Allen knows for sure.  What does the DA think is there? Probably every evil you could attribute to the former president donald trump and then some.

 

Tax cases of this size seem big to your run-of-the-mill working stiff. But they’re pretty routine in a world where one billion dollars barely qualifies you for a spot on the Forbes 400 or Bloomberg’s minute-by-minute tracking of anyone and everyone in that asset neighborhood -- except Bloomberg himself.

 

So, what does the DA really want? Brain content.  Oh, sure if Weisselberg is convicted or cops a plea, he’ll probably do some time.  Weisselberg is 73 years old and by all accounts in decent health.  So a few years at Club Fed won’t kill him.

 

But the real entre in this meal is the former president donald trump.  And the question is simple: would the CFO turn against the CEO?  The guessing is probably not.  But you never know.  Maybe Weisselberg won’t be convicted of anything… after all, Lansky wasn’t. Or maybe he’s allergic to the food or dust from the baseball diamond at Otisville, New York. But other than that, inmates say, it has most of the comforts of home.

 

A lot of people are salivating to do something to the former president donald trump and should be.  And this indictment can probably raise hopes. But a lot of others think the former president donald trump is more likely to die of Teflon poisoning than he is to do time.

 

Some people are just lucky that way.

 

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them.

Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com

© WR 2021

 


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4759 The Supreme Court

  C’mon, guys, we all know what you’re doing.  You’re hiding behind nonsense so a black woman is not the next Associate Justice of the  U.S....