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Nomenclature of an Assassination Cabal
Chapter 3
Roy Cohn, General John Medaris, Joe Bonanno, L.M. Bloomfield, the Syndicate and the Mafia
Roy M. Cohn, using a representative of Intercontinental Company of Garland, Texas, a subsidiary of Lionel Corporation, provided a Dallas located agent to work with Ferenc Nagy. This agent was Ramon Buenrostro Cortez. Others with Cortez in Texas were Lorenzo Saunders and a Cuban exile, Ignacio Hernandez Garcia, alias Fernandez Feito. In the September 5, 1969 issue of LIFE Magazine, it was reported that J. Edgar Hoover punished three of his FBI agents in New York for cooperating with the United States District Attorney in New York, Robert Morgenthau, in his prosecution against Roy M. Cohn on a number of felony charges. The LIFE report has this to say:
During the McCarthy inquisitions of the early 1950's, Cohn, as Senator McCarthy's chief counsel, had worked closely with (Louis B.) Nichols and the FBI in developing cases against suspected Communists. Agents spent weeks screening FBI security files and extracting them in memos for Cohn during the prolonged hearings. Through these years Cohn's friendship with Director Hoover also developed, and this was further cemented by their mutual regard for the multimillionaire boss of the huge Schenley distillery complex, Lewis Rosenstiel. (Cohn to this day addresses Rosenstiel variously as "commander-in-chief" or "supreme commander" and Rosenstiel refers to his younger friend as "field commander" or "sergeant major").
When Nichols decided to retire from the FBI in 1957, Cohn set out to land him a job with Schenley. He had the willing support of another Rosenstiel friend, the late conservative columnist George Sokolsky, for whom Nichols represented 100% anti-Communist Americanism. At a social evening in August, 1967, Cohn and Sokolsky agreed to try to sell Nichols to Rosenstiel as prime executive timber.
The next night they made their pitch to Rosenstiel. Nichols, Cohn contended, was a genius, truly "one of the greatest men in America", whereupon Rosenstiel dispatched the Schenley private plane to Washington to fly Nichols and his wife to a conference at Rosenstiel's Greenwich, Conn. estate. Under Cohn's continued urging, Rosenstiel agreed to give Nichols a 10-year contract at $100,000 a year, plus stock options, in addition to arranging for Schenley's to buy and furnish a Manhattan apartment for Nichols. The whole package had to be an impressive introduction to corporate business for a middle-aged FBI man who had spent most of his adult life as a modestly paid public servant. Nichols later became executive vice president in charge of corporate development and public affairs and was elected to the Schenley board.
. . . Hoover personally ordered the three agents transferred out of New York. On May 2, each received a letter of censure and was given 30 days to report to his new post - (Donald) Jones to go to St. Louis, (Russell) Sullivan to Louisville, and (Jack) Knox to Pittsburgh.
Bureau men are accustomed to being ordered around in a fairly peremptory way, but such disciplinary transfers usually have a gloss of logic. This time the men were being moved for doing what in essence they were paid to do - helping a U.S. Attorney protect his case. The ensuing rumble of protest was so loud that it could be heard even outside the Bureau, which virtually never happens. Morgenthau was furious. He confronted Assistant FBI Director John F. Malone, the top man in the New York field office, and Malone promptly reported the confrontation to Washington. The next day Hoover personally directed the New York field office to inform the three wayward agents that they now had until midnight the following day - 36 hours in all - to report to their new stations, which they did.
LIFE went on to say: "Cohn has cultivated a long friendship with Edwin Weisl, President Johnson's handpicked ambassador to New York's Democratic party. Weisl .... is a frequent Cohn luncheon companion." Weisl was a long time friend of Johnson. As a matter of fact, during the 1950's, Weisl was the general counsel to the Senate Space Committee and he and Johnson were constantly together along with General John B. Medaris, then head of the Army Space Program. Among other groups, Medaris, during this program, had been in charge of Wernher Von Braun and the other Nazi space scientists at Huntsville, Alabama.
From 1960 to 1963, the ruling hierarchy of Lionel Corporation was General John B. Medaris, Roy Cohn and Joe Bonanno (Joe Bananas), a top Mafia man from New York, Las Vegas, Tucson and Montreal, Canada. Lionel Corporation during this period did over ninety percent of their business with the space agency and army ordnance furnishing such items as electronic equipment, rocket parts, chemical warfare agents and flame throwers. Also, during this period, General Medaris, though having retired in 1960, remained on active duty as special advisor to Army Intelligence in the Pentagon. The Lionel Corporation management was in direct contact with Louis Mortimer Bloomfield who, among other things, was a lawyer with offices in Tangiers, Morocco and Paris, France. Bloomfield was also the president of Heineken's Brewers, Ltd., Canada. General Medaris was a director of one of the land speculation companies of Bobby Baker and Senator George Smathers in Florida. Joe Bonanno (Joe Bananas) in his capacity as a Mafia leader, was associated in the Havana and Las Vegas gambling with L.J. McWillie, Clifford Jones and others.
In addition to J. Edgar Hoover's close association with Roy Cohn, he was also a long time friend of General Medaris. Joe Bonanno (Joe Bananas) had been a personal informer for J. Edgar Hoover for over a decade during 1963. Grant Stockdale, ex-United States Ambassador to Ireland and former George Smathers Administrative Assistant and a stock holder and officer in Bobby Baker's vending machine and Florida land transactions, knew and was closely associated with almost all of the top figures in the cabal. Shortly after President Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963, Grant Stockdale was pushed, shoved or fell from the fourteenth story of a Miami building and was killed immediately in the fall. As an officer in the Bobby Baker enterprises, Grant Stockdale had particular knowledge of a good part of the workings of the cabal and his death was one of a series made necessary to protect the group from public exposure.
A number of the conspirators' connections in the early 1960's and the various connections, organizations and financial conduits were revealed in books published in 1969. Donald R. Cressey revealed in his work, Theft of a Nation, that a "Lelow" was the top guy of the Joseph L. Bonanno group in Montreal, Canada. The name was overheard on a telephone tap and it is believed to be Lazlo Nagy, a close relative of Ferenc Nagy. There, it is also revealed, "the Bonanno family has for decades had other interests in Montreal which is a bet taking lay-off center for U.S. bookmakers and lay-off men re-insure their bets." All of the investigators looking into Louis Mortimer Bloomfield's activities in connection with Permindex, the Swiss corporation, reported him as a banker in Montreal, Canada. He is not a banker as such, but a bet lay-off man is always referred to as a banker and this is where the confusion came. In fact, Bloomfield, as has been shown before, was the contract agent in charge of Division Five, the espionage agency of J. Edgar Hoover, and was a Montreal lawyer with offices in Paris, France, and Tangiers, Morocco. Among the large number of suppressed Warren Commission Documents were two which are of interest here. Their titles are:
1.Allegation Oswald was in Tangiers, Morocco Document Number 1188 2.Allegation Oswald in Montreal, Summer 1963 Document Number 729
Poor's Register for 1963 lists the corporations and dummy corporations through which Bloomfield funnelled the funds into and away from the Swiss banks. They are:
Credit Suisse (Canada), Ltd. (a subsidiary of CREDIT SUISSE of Berne, Switzerland) Manoir Industries, Ltd. British Controlled Oil Fields, Ltd. Grimaldi Siosa Lines (Canada), Ltd. Berkeley Property Corp., Ltd. Canscot Realty Investments, Ltd. Canscot Building, Ltd. Beaver Hall Investments, Ltd. Israel Continental Oil Co., Ltd. Lenzing Pulp and Paper Corp., Ltd. Leviton Mfg. of Can., Ltd. Mirelia Investments, Ltd. Progress Luminaire, Ltd. Protrade Commercial Devel., Ltd. Heineken's Breweries (Can.), Ltd.
Ed Reid, in The Grim Reapers, reveals one of the other subsidiaries of CREDIT SUISSE and conduits through funds were funnelled. There the connection of Bobby Baker, Morris Dalitz, Cliff Jones and others in the conspiracy and their connections with the conduits are shown. The principle funding agency for Permindex was the Credit Bank of Geneva, also known as Credit Suisse. The Syndicate Caribbean money structure is partially represented by the Bank of World Commerce, Ltd., which was incorporated in 1961 under British law in Nassau, Bahamas. Nevada's Cliff Jones and Ed Levinson were listed as stockholders.
Tied into the whole structure was a firm known in 1961 as Allied Empire, Inc., formerly Allied Television Films, Inc., of Beverly Hills, California. At that time Allied Empire was listed as a corporate stockholder with ten thousand shares of Bank of World Commerce stock, and was the holding company for the bank. The financial structure has myriad connections. A score of Las Vegas gamblers and state and federal politicians were involved in the setup through Anjon Savings and Loan, account Number 804, and Merritt Savings and Loan of Baltimore, Maryland, which was bought out by Anjon Account Number 804. By means of a network of American and British corporate laws, Account Number 804's list of depositor-stockholders includes not only the Bank of World Commerce - $23,000 - but also a number of Las Vegans.
When all the records are put together, we find that the names of a number of individuals involved show up again and again in the complex web of gambling operations in various places on the North American continent and form compass points which chart a course to the truth of the operation. Account Number 804 listed among its stockholders: Irving Devine, Las Vegas gambler whose wife was named by LIFE as a mob courier, Clifford Jones, Edward Levinson, John Pullman, one time president, Bank of World Commerce, M.A. Riddle, B.E. Seigelbaum and Sav-Way Investment Company. The persons holding office and stock in the Bank of World Commerce at the time of its inception were: John Pullman, president and director; Edward Dawson Roberts, vice-president and director; Gerald Nelson Capps, secretary and treasurer; N. Roberts, director; Alvin I. Malnic, director, and Philip J Mathew, director. Among the stockholders were; Leon C. Bloom, Jr., Clifford A. Jones, John Pullman, Irving Devine, Edward Levinson and Allied Empire, Inc.
On September 8, 1967, two of the individuals involved with the Bank of World Commerce and Anjon Savings and Loan, Account Number 804, were named by LIFE as "bagmen" for Meyer Lansky in the syndicate's far-flung gambling kingdom. A third, an alleged "bagwoman", is the wife of one of the Bank of World Commerce stockholders. Cash was carried by these people and others, the article stated, via the Bank of World Commerce into the financial arteries of an organization in the Bahamas known as the Atlas Bank, a working subsidiary of the CREDIT SUISSE in Berne, Switzerland. All three of the boards of directors and staffs of these money entities were what LIFE described as "studded with both skimmers and couriers" for the mob.
Among the fund couriers listed was Ben Sigelbaum (Seigelbaum), sixty-five years old, political advisor and a long time associate of Ed Levinson in many of his business endeavors. Sigelbaum was also a business associate and confidant of Bobby Baker when the latter was Secretary of the Democratic Majority in the U.S. Senate. Also named was John Pullman, sixty-seven years old, original president of the Bank of World Commerce who once served a prison term for violating U.S. liquor laws and gave up his American citizenship in 1954 to become a Canadian. He now lives in Switzerland. Another courier was Sylvain Ferdmann, a thirty-three year old Swiss citizen described as in international banker and economist and, by U.S. authorities, as a fugitive accused of interfering with federal inquiries into the skimming racket in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Ida Devine, wife of Las Vegas gambler Irving (Niggy) Devine, traveled with Sigelbaum from Las Vegas to Miami with skimmed money for Lansky; Ferdmann is said to have carried the skim from the Bahamas to Lansky; and Lansky counted the money in Miami, took his own cut and dispensed other sums, via different couriers, to a few syndicate chieftains in the United States.
At that point, the story went on, Ferdmann and Pullman carried the remainder of the funds to the CREDIT SUISSE in Berne, Switzerland and deposited them in numbered accounts in the Swiss haven for secret-money banking. An active part in the whole affair was carried out by Ferdmann, who organized the Atlas Bank as the Bahamas subsidiary of the CREDIT SUISSE of Berne, Switzerland. The foregoing further confirms, Bloomfield, Permindex, Double-Chek and the connections with the same group as was connected earlier in Credit Bank of Geneva which is one and the same as CREDIT SUISSE, Miami Astaldo Vaduz, Double-Chek, Alex Carlson and the other Swiss and Liechtenstein Banks. Fred Black of Washington, D.C. was a lobbyist for North American Aircraft and business associate with Bobby Baker and Clifford Jones. Black has confirmed the connection between Jones, McWillie, Baker, Ruby and ex-Cuban President, Prio.
After November 22, l963, Black publicly told many people in Washington, D.C. he had informed J. Edgar Hoover that an income tax conviction against him must be reversed or he would blow the lid off Washington with revelations of the assassination conspirators. Lobbyist Black prevailed upon J. Edgar Hoover to admit error before the Supreme Court where his case was reversed in 1966. Hoover did well to rescue Black from the conviction. Fred Black, while socially drinking with acquaintances in Washington has, on numerous occasions, been reported to have told of J. Edgar Hoover's and Bobby Baker's involvement in the assassination through Las Vegas, Miami and Havana gamblers. He named some of these as the Fox Brothers of Miami, McLaney of Las Vegas, New Orleans, Havana and Bahamas, Cliff Jones of Las Vegas, Carlos Prio Socarras of Havana, Bobby Baker and others. He stated there was also a connection in that some of the gamblers were Russian emigres.
Don Reynolds, Washington, D.C. businessman and associate of Bobby Baker and who had a number of questionable business transactions with Walter Jenkins on behalf of Lyndon Johnson, also gave testimony concerning Bobby Baker's involvement with the principals and he has stated on numerous public occasions that this group was behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Black was a stockholder with Baker in the Waikiki Savings & Loan Association in Honolulu. The other members were Clifford Jones and his law partner, Louis Weiner. There was the Farmers and Merchants State Bank in Tulsa where Jones joined Baker and Black in a stock deal and brought in a Miami pal by the name of Benny Sigelbaum, a courier of funds and documents to the Swiss banks for Permindex and the Syndicate.
Of all the enterprises, none could compare with the controversial Serv-U Corp., a Baker-Black controlled vending- machine firm. Ed Levinson, president of the Fremont Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, was also a partner. Grant Stockdale, President of Serv-U and his money is covered later. Formed late in 1961, Serve-U Corporation provided vending machines for the automatic dispensing of food and drink in companies working on government contracts. In the next two years, Serv-U was awarded the lion-share of the vending business at three major aerospace firms - North American Aviation, Northrop Corporation and Thompson Ramo Wooldridge's Space Technology Laboratories. Baker and Black each bought stock in the company for $1 a share, while the others paid approximately $16 a share.
Early in 1963 when Baker's Carousel Motel in Ocean City, Md. ran into financial difficulties, it was bought by Ser-U for $1 million. McWillie, Baker and Jones were involved in numerous transactions together, one of which was the incorporation of Greatamerica, the conglomerate company. The incorporating papers in Carson City, Nevada dated April 27, 1962 lists Abe Fortas as vice-president, general counsel and director. There is not sufficient evidence made public yet to connect Fortas with the assassination conspiracy.
One of the incorporators of Greatamerica was Clifford A. Jones, Nevada Lieutenant Governor from 1945-54 and a part owner and officer of the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas. The gambling license issued to Jones and a partner in the hotel was revoked by the Nevada Tax Commission in 1955 on grounds that underworld figures had interests in the hotel. The decision was later overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court. On January 5, 1966, Clifford Jones was indicted for perjury in connection with the grand jury investigation of Bobby Baker, former secretary to Senate Democrats. Baker was indicted the same day for conspiracy, tax evasion and fraudulently converting to his own use nearly $100,000 from California savings and loan executives who thought they were making political contributions. Clifford Jones was named a co-conspirator in that indictment. Baker was later convicted of failing to pay tax on the $100,000.
Jones' case had not come to trial as of the summer of 1969. Abe Fortas was Baker's attorney until Johnson became President in 1963. At that time he withdrew from the case. The two other incorporators of Greatamerica were Helen Irving and Katherine Waldman, both of Las Vegas, and both also listed as directors of a Las Vegas concern which got a gambling license in June, 1964. The same three incorporators - Jones and the two women - were listed as incorporators when Greatamerica filed to do business in Texas on January 29, 1963, records in the Texas Secretary of State's Office in Austin showed.
Troy Post of Dallas, Texas was the originator of Greatamerica. It was Troy Post working with Bobby Baker and Clifford Jones who put the conglomerate together. Edward Levinson of the Freemont Hotel in Las Vegas was associated with Bobby Baker, Clifford Jones and L.J. McWillie in the plans for the assassination of President Kennedy. Levinson refused to answer any questions before the Senate Committee investigating the Bobby Baker case in 1964. He took the Fifth Amendment seventy-five times. Levinson and Morris Dalitz of the Desert Inn and Stardust in Las Vegas were also connected with Carlos Prio Socarras, ex-Cuban President, and Cliff Jones in all Havana gambling before and after Castro took control. Morris Dalitz, Roy M. Cohn, H.L. Hunt and J. Edgar Hoover had worked together for years in the anti- Communist movement. They had been active as a group for the Joe McCarthy investigations during the early 1950's.
Morris Dalitz, for years had been the head of the Cleveland, Ohio underworld and as such had been a business partner of Joe Bonanno of the Mafia and Lionel Corporation. Dalitz and Bonanno had been a constant target of Robert Kennedy in his organized crime fight. We shall later look into Bonanno's activities and connections. Ed Reid in his 1969 book, The Grim Reapers, published a picture of Lyndon Johnson at Morris Dalitz' Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, taken when Johnson and Bobby Baker met with Dalitz prior to the assassination. Johnson and Dalitz were photographed together a number of times during the important Las Vegas meeting. Also at the meeting with Johnson, Baker and Dalitz, the host, were Ed Levinson, Clifford Jones and Roy Cohn.
The great majority of FBI agents knew nothing about Hoover's actions and capable agents made a conspiracy case against Clifford Jones along with Bobby Baker in connection with their various financial transactions. Jones was indicted in 1964 for the conspiracy and a second indictment was made against him for perjury, that is for lying under oath when testifying for Baker. J. Edgar Hoover pressured the Justice Department and Jones has not been brought to trial for more than five years after the charges. Hoover and Jones were personally close friends as well as a members of the assassination cabal.
Because of the wide publicity and public pressure, Hoover could not quash the Baker case without a trial. However, he worked through Abe Fortas on the Supreme Court and Baker's appeals were handled in such a way as to block any final decree and to bring questions on the case lasting into late 1969. Hoover's adroit handling of the Baker case has made it questionable whether Baker will ever serve a day of his sentence. History has recorded at least as early as World War II the definite working together of the Mafia and J. Edgar Hoover through his espionage department. From 1943 to 1946, Lucky Luciano and selected Mafia members throughout the United States worked on the docks of the various ports in the United States and in other areas with J. Edgar Hoover and the military intelligence agencies in preventing sabotage.
Lucky Luciano's prison sentence was suspended in 1946 and he was allowed to leave the country to take up residence in Sicily. Vito Genovese and his select Mafia group worked with Mussolini in Italy before and during World War II and were a part of Mussolini's Fascist governing regime. However, in 1943, as the American Forces worked their way up the Italian peninsula, the same Vito Genovese and his group became active agents for the United States intelligence agencies and a number of American officials wrote flowery recommendations for Mr. Genovese citing his American patriotism, intelligence and ingenuity in carrying out his assigned duties for the U.S. espionage agencies.