Ipswich Public Library

Empire of deception, the incredible story of a master swindler who seduced a city and captivated the nation, Dean Jobb

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

individual biography

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Empire of deception

bibliography

886493237

Dean Jobb

the incredible story of a master swindler who seduced a city and captivated the nation

"It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties ... Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people ... to invest as much as $30 million--upwards of $400 million today--in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama ... When Leo's scheme finally collapsed in 1923, he vanished, and the Chicago state's attorney, a man whose lust for power equaled Leo's own lust for money, began an international manhunt that lasted almost a year"--Provided by publisher

Our Ponzi -- Ambitions -- The law -- The gamble -- The dupe -- The big idea -- The syndicate -- The hanging judge -- The sting -- The confidence man -- The crime fighter -- The bubble -- The flight -- The smash -- The sensation -- The double life -- The victims -- The manhunt -- The alias -- The guide -- The hideaway -- The prince of entertainers -- The crime of the century -- The pariah -- The womanizer -- The trap -- The gang war -- The prisoner -- The return -- The confession -- The reckoning -- The final swindle