Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb
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Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb
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“A brilliantly researched tale of greed, ambition, and our desperate need to believe in magic, it’s history that captures America as it really was--and always will be. A great read.” —Douglas Perry, author of Eliot Ness It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. As Model Ts rumbled down Michigan Avenue, gang war shootings announced Al Capone’s rise to underworld domination. Bedecked partygoers thronged to the Drake Hotel’s opulent banquet rooms, corrupt politicians held court in thriving speakeasies, and the frenzy of stock market gambling was rampant. Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people (who should have known better) to invest as much as $30 million--upwards of $400 million today--in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama. It was an ingenious deceit, one that out-ponzied Charles Ponzi himself, who only a few years earlier had been arrested for a pyramid scheme. Leo had a good run--his was perhaps the longest fraud in history--and when his enterprise finally collapsed in 1923, he vanished. The Cook County 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. When finally apprehended, Leo was living a life of luxury in Nova Scotia under the assumed identity of a book dealer and literary critic. A salacious court hearing followed, and his mysterious death in a Chicago prison rivaled the rest of his almost-too-bizarre-to-believe life. A rip-roaring tale of greed, financial corruption, dirty politics, over-the-top and under-the-radar deceit, illicit sex, and a brilliant and wildly charming con man on the town and then on the lam, Empire of Deception has it all. It’s not only a rich and detailed account of a man and an era; it’s a fascinating look at the methods of swindlers throughout history. Leo Koretz was the Bernie Madoff of his day, and Dean Jobb shows us that the American dream of easy wealth is timeless. “The granddaddy of all con men, Leo Koretz gives Jobb the opportunity to exhibit his impressive research and storytelling skills . . . [Jobb] keeps readers on edge . . . as they wait to see if Koretz might just get away with it. A highly readable, entertaining story.” —Kirkus Reviews “A captivating tale of high-flying financial chicanery in 1920s Chicago. Dean Jobb tells the story of Leo Koretz, a legendary con artist of Madoffian audacity, with terrific energy and narrative brio.” —Gary Krist, author of Empire of Sin “A dramatic read and a useful lesson!” —Michael Korda, author of Charmed Lives “Begin with a Bernie Madoff–wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing con man pursued by a power-hungry public prosecutor; add the great hog-trough feeding frenzy of 1920s Chicago; stir with great writing and enterprising research; and there you have it: a wonderfully entertaining read!” —Michael Lesy, author of Murder City “Dean Jobb’s story of con man Leo and his pathetically gullible and mostly rich victims perfectly captures the flavor of Chicago in the Roaring Twenties. What a great caper movie this would make!” —Marq de Villiers, author of Our Way Out “Reads like a Gatsby-Ponzi mashup. A guilty-pleasure reminder that the most audacious bad guys have always been the most entertaining. Kudos to Jobb for unearthing this overlooked story and bringing to life a charming, witty, naughty, iconic American crook.” —Neal Thompson, author of A Curious Man “Dean Jobb has found a fascinating yet little-known jazz-age tale and told it with style and smarts.” —Jonathan Eig, author of Get Capone
Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb - Amazon Sales Rank: #308720 in Books
- Brand: Jobb, Dean
- Published on: 2015-05-19
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.90" h x 1.30" w x 6.10" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 352 pages
Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of May 2015: Part popular history, part true crime, Dean Jobb’s Empire of Deception is the fascinating tale of Leo Koretz, a trained lawyer who used his sweet-talking ways not to defend the law but to break it. Set mostly in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties, the same era that brought us Ponzi and his famous scheme, Jobb’s book is divided into three acts. Act One introduces readers to Koretz, who managed to bilk millions from mostly rich “investors” who thought they were getting entrée into oil and timber interests in Panama. Act Two shows his years of hard criminal work paying off (he lived in a mansion and owned two Rolls Royces) and also catching up to him. Act Three shows him fleeing to Nova Scotia, where he dated a slew of women and threw lavish parties until he was eventually caught. What makes this book so interesting is the excellent pacing and fine detail laced throughout (although toward the end of the book that detail threatens, momentarily, to stall the momentum that Jobb so skillfully builds), the joy of reading about a man who could have taught Bernie Madoff a thing or two, and the sheer chutzpah (and, yes, skill) of Leo Koretz, who for a time lived like Gatsby and who managed to separate millions of dollars from people who probably should have known better. --Chris Schluep
Review “Intoxicating and impressively researched, Jobb’s immorality tale provides a sobering post-Madoff reminder that those who think everything is theirs for the taking are destined to be taken.” —The New York Times Book Review “Comprehensively researched and enthralling . . . High-stakes hijinks give the story a rollicking feel, but Jobb manages great poignancy, too. . . This lively and sweeping account seems to have already given a master con artist his due, putting him in the ‘pantheon of pyramid-building swindlers.’” —The Washington Post “This cautionary tale of 1920s greed and excess reads like it could happen today.” —The Associated Press “Jobb vividly, albeit briefly, brings the Chicago of the 1880s and ‘90s to life . . . [and] is a masterpiece of narrative set-up and vivid language.” —Chicago Tribune “Dean Jobb skillfully dusts off this century-old tale with a fast-paced narrative, a keen eye for detail and a cast of characters in which the free-for-all city of Chicago plays a prominent role . . . [A] masterfully told story.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune “Jobb expertly mixes newspaper research with witness interviews to weave a rollicking narrative. . . .The result is a memorable, fast-moving work of history.”—Atlanta Jewish Times“[A]n intriguing story. . . In our own wealth-besotted times, this well-researched story of Leo Koretz is a cautionary tale.”—Washington Independent Review of Books “Peppered with contemporaneous photos depicting the key players and the swanky places, phony stock certificates, newspaper headlines, and even a 'wanted' posted, Empire of Deception is a jaw-dropping, rollicking good read.”—Booklist “This lively, entertaining, and depressingly relevant history of a man and his con reads like a novel and will be enjoyed by fans of popular history as well as true crime.” —Library Journal, starred review “[A] rollicking story of greed, financial corruption, dirty politics, and illicit sex.” —Publishers Weekly
From the Back Cover “A rollicking tale that is one part The Sting, one part The Great Gatsby, and one part The Devil in the White City.” —Karen Abbott, author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. As Model Ts rumbled down Michigan Avenue, gang-war shootings announced Al Capone’s rise to underworld domination. As bedecked partygoers thronged to the Drake Hotel’s opulent banquet rooms, corrupt politicians held court in thriving speakeasies and the frenzy of stock market gambling was rampant. Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people to invest as much as $30 million--upward of $400 million today--in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama. This rip-roaring tale of greed, financial corruption, dirty politics, over-the-top and under-the-radar deceit, illicit sex, and a brilliant and wildly charming con man on the town, then on the lam, is not only a rich and detailed account of a man and an era; it’s a fascinating look at the methods of swindlers throughout history. Leo Koretz was the Bernie Madoff of his day, and Dean Jobb shows us that the American dream of easy wealth is a timeless commodity. ?“Intoxicating and impressively researched, Jobb’s immorality tale provides a sobering post-Madoff reminder that those who think everything is theirs for the taking are destined to be taken.” —The New York Times Book Review “Captivating . . . A story that seems to be as American as it can get, and it’s told well.” —The Christian Science Monitor “A masterpiece of narrative set-up and vivid language . . . Jobb vividly . . . brings the Chicago of the 1880s and ‘90s to life.” —Chicago Tribune“This cautionary tale of 1920s greed and excess reads like it could happen today.” —The Associated Press
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Most helpful customer reviews
59 of 63 people found the following review helpful. A Great Tale, Fun To Read By Andy in Washington True crime is one of my guilty pleasures, especially con artists. I had heard of Leo Koretz, but had never quite appreciated his abilities as a con man and swindler. Scaled for inflation, he is certainly in the same league as Bernie Madoff as a master of his “craft”.=== The Good Stuff ===* Jobb writes well, and treats us to a well-written and lively narrative. For the most part, the book moves along at a reasonable pace, and Jobb was able to capture and maintain my interest with a 100 year old story.* The book seems well grounded in the facts, although it is not footnoted or well referenced. It is written as a popular work, not an academic one. That was mostly OK with me, except for a few issues discussed below.* The story is, despite the sadness of many people being swindled, somewhat of a “fun” tale. Koretz is certainly an interesting character, a master salesman, con artist and Jay Gatsby wanna-be. He manages to con some very rich and powerful people, the kind who you would expect to know better, and does so with a very simple scheme and not a lot of effort. Any one of his victims no doubt had the ability to unravel his scheme with a single conversation with the right person, but none ever seemed to bother.* Robb does a nice job of capturing the whole story. We see how the scheme got started, watch it grow, see it unravel, and finally witness the crash as it affected both the con man and his victims. Robb weaves the story into life in the US, and especially Chicago, during the Roaring 20’s, and ties many of the events together.=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===* My biggest complaint is the inclusion of “background” information. While Robb is telling the tale of Koretz the swindler, he takes the reader down numerous side detours about Chicago politics, crime and corruption during the prohibition era. You could make the case that these are either excellent background and add a dimension and context to the story…or you could call them filler designed to make a book out of an article. Personally I found them more distracting than enlightening, but your opinions may vary.* There are quite a number of named characters, and it wasn’t always easy to keep them straight. There is a “program” at the beginning of the book to help sort through the characters, but to be honest, I never find that feature to be helpful when I am reading, especially electronic copies.* As always, I am suspicious of detailed accounts of conversations that happened nearly 100 years ago- but as re-creations they stand the test of reasonableness and make the story flow better.=== Summary ===I like the book, and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in true crime or the abilities of con men to separate people from their money. My own preference would been to have more details on the mechanics of the scam, rather than the personal and relationship side of it, but I suspect the technical details may have been lost to history. The actions of the dapper Mr. Koretz were certainly fun to read, and Robb creates a character that you can’t help but liking-even as he shows himself to be a cad.As I read the book, my most common thought was that it would be impossible to pull off today. A little internet searching would have blown the tales of Panamanian oil wells and Arkansas rice paddies to smithereens… and then I remembered that Bernie Madoff and AIG ran pretty much the same cons well into the information age. The tactics were different, but the strategy was the same.=== Disclaimer ===I was able to read the book through the courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. The Ponzi Scheme, basically an overnight chump change scam compared to Leo Koretz. By milo Excellent read. Forget about the "Ponzi Scheme", it should be known as the "Leo Koretz Scheme". This con man makes Ponzi a piker. Dean Jobb did a great job researching this book and taking us through this decades long scan, probably Madoff got his ideas from Mr. Koretz. Will now have to look at other works by this author.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. A fantastic true story. By Donna C I found EMPIRE OF DECEPTION so incredibly fascinating I really couldn’t put it down (I did have to because of work, stupid work). Jobb wrote it in such a captivating way that it sucked me right in and held me with this almost ridiculous story of a non-Ponzi Ponzi who made Ponzi look like a Girl Scout.Creating his scheme years before Ponzi ever did, and continuing years after he was caught, Leo Koretz effectively wrote the book on corruption and deception. Not only did he scheme people through not one but at least three different investment dupes he ducked out of dodge and went into hiding for a year under an assumed identity and continued to live lavishly on the money he’d stolen. Never mind he was already living a double life before he was caught. With an infinite number of dirt bag levels to his character these are the things reality TV should be made of. All the ridiculousness of this man’s life didn’t need embellishment. It was insane enough as it was.Jobb did excellent work in researching the details of Koretz’s life (and the lives of those around him and directly and indirectly affected by him) and brought them to life on the page. I might as well have been reading a newspaper and the events could have been current, it was so lifelike. The thing about Koretz, and I think Jobb captured this perfectly, was that outwardly he wasn’t a sleaze. He was a relatable, genial man who endeared people to him with a great personality. And he used that. He used reverse psychology in order to get people to trust him more. People didn’t believe him to be a shady character and he never presented himself as such. I found myself almost buying into him as an upstanding person because he didn’t outwardly do bad things. He wasn’t a gangster, he didn’t appear to be a philanderer, he appeared to have a completely legitimate business. On top of that he was nothing who crawled his own way to something by the road of hard work and determination, and again, was legal about it. He just didn’t have much by the way of scruples.This book was so lively and focused not only on Koretz as a person but on the time he lived in. The 20s were alive in EMPIRE OF DECEPTION and in a decade where excess was everything Koretz was at the top of it. This wasn’t just a rehash of past events told for the sake of education. This was a story, a tale to tell, and Jobb told it with stunning accuracy and a flare for the fantastic that didn’t hamper the story but supplemented the fantastic elements perfectly.If you want to read about a piece of history that’s been largely forgotten, left in the shadow of another shyster who left a much smaller mark in the greater world of scandal, you’ll love EMPIRE OF DECEPTION. It’s a learning session and a drama all wrapped into one. From nailing the setting of the time perfectly to staying out of the story as the author and letting the facts speak for themselves to a voice that will just drag you in and won’t let go, you won’t want to put it down. I’m generally interested in this time period anyway but even I surprised myself with how much I liked this book. It was just phenomenal all around.5I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb
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Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb
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