Empire of deception: the incredible story of a master swindler who seduced a city and captivated the nation
Award winning non-fiction, Bestsellers (Non-fiction), Biography, Law and crime biography
Human-narrated audio
Summary
It was a time of unregulated madness, and nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the roaring 1920s. Speakeasies thrived, gang war shootings announced Al Capone's rise to underworld domination, Chicago's corrupt political leaders fraternized with… gangsters, and yellow journalism only contributed to the excesses. 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 in phantom timberland and non-existent oil wells in Panama. When Leo's scheme finally collapsed in 1923, he vanished and the Chicago State's Attorney began an international manhunt that lasted almost a year. When finally apprehended, Leo was living a life of luxury in Nova Scotia under an assumed identity. His mysterious death in a Chicago prison topped anything in his almost-too-bizarre-to-believe life. Bestseller. Winner of the 2016 Arthur Ellis Best Non-fiction Crime Book Award. 2015.