Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation - Softcover

Jobb, Dean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1616205350 ISBN 13: 9781616205355

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2016

Synopsis

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—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. 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. 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.

About this title

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

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.
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“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

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1616205350
• ISBN 13: 9781616205355
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352