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Title details for Empire of Deception by Dean Jobb - Available

Empire of Deception

The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation

by Dean Jobb
Peter Berkrot
Audiobook
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A rollicking story of greed, financial corruption, dirty politics, over-the-top and under-the-radar deceit, illicit sex, and a brilliant and wildly charming con man who kept a Ponzi scheme alive perhaps for longer than anyone else in history. It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Speakeasies thrived, gang war shootings announced Al Capone's rise to underworld domination, Chicago's corrupt political leaders fraternized with gangsters, 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. When Leo's scheme finally collapsed in 1923, he vanished, and the Chicago 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. His mysterious death in a Chicago prison topped anything in his almost-too-bizarre-to-believe life.Empire of Deception is not only an incredibly 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 dream of easy wealth is a timeless commodity.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    May 19, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781622315772
      • File size: 273326 KB
      • Duration: 09:29:25

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Peter Berkrot adopts a tone reminiscent of Mickey Spillane in delivering this examination of a master swindler from Chicago in the early 1920s. The narration, combined with the author's somewhat breezy style, makes for an enjoyable account of a con game so brazen that it wouldn't be matched until Bernie Madoff's scheme came along. Leo Koretz duped investors out of $30 million ($400 million today) and led a mysterious double/triple life that came to light only after his nonexistent Panama timber-oil empire was exposed. Even his death--suicide by chocolate--was bizarre. Berkrot adopts a conversational style and eschews theatrics in his narration, preferring to let the story itself capture the listener. But he does add a tone of incredulity as details of the case emerge. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from June 15, 2015

      Jobb (journalism, Univ. of King's Coll.; The Cajuns) here tells the incredible story of Leo Koretz and his scheme to bilk his family, friends, and associates out of millions of dollars. The story of Koretz is told in parallel with that of the man who eventually captured him, Chicago state's attorney Robert Crowe. Through his Bayano River Syndicate, Koretz sold stock in worthless Panamanian land that he did not even own, telling investors that it contained vast oil and lumber reserves. Koretz continually brought in new investors to pay the owed dividends to the original investors (a Ponzi scheme). After several years of deception, the scheme collapsed in 1923. Koretz disappeared from Chicago and moved to Nova Scotia to buy a hunting lodge. A strange set of events led to his capture in 1924. Narrator Peter Berkrot has a distinctive voice that matches the 1920s era perfectly. VERDICT This book is written so well and performed so flawlessly on audio that it should be purchased by all libraries. Fans of Erik Larson will love Jobb's latest true crime masterpiece. ["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": LJ 3/15/15 starred review of the Algonquin hc.]--Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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