Mayer lansky

by ezzat amier

      Meyer Lansky (July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a major organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States.

       Lansky developed a gambling empire that stretched across the world. He was said to own points (percentages) in casinos in Las Vegas, Cuba, The Bahamas and London. Although a member of the Jewish Mob, Lansky undoubtedly had strong influence with the Italian Mafia and played a large role in the consolidation of the criminal underworld (although the full extent of this role has been the subject of some debate, as he himself denied many of the accusations against him).  Despite nearly fifty years as a member-participant in organized crime, Lansky was never found guilty of anything more serious than illegal gambling. He has a legacy of being one of the most financially successful gangsters in American history. Before Meyer Lansky fled Cuba, he was said to be worth an estimated $20 million ($163.7 million in 2016 dollars). However when he died in 1983, his family was shocked that his estate was worth less than $10,000, with Lansky saying before he died that Cuba “ruined” him.

         In 1911, he immigrated to the United States through the port of Odessa with his mother and brother, and joined his father, who had immigrated in 1909, and settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York.  Lansky met Bugsy Siegel when they were children. They became lifelong friends, as well as partners in the bootlegging trade, and together managed the Bugs and Meyer Mob with its reputation as one of the most violent Prohibition gangs. Lansky was also close friends with Lucky Luciano; the two met as teenagers when Luciano attempted to extort Lansky for protection money on his walk home from school. Luciano respected the younger boy's defiant responses to his threats, and the two formed a lasting partnership thereafter. Lansky was instrumental in Luciano's rise to power by reportedly organizing the 1931 murders of Mafia bosses Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano.