United States Investment

Havana, Cuba earned more revenue for the mafia than Las Vegas, Nevada. Meyer Lansky ran the Riviera resort, Trafficante ran the island, and Lucky Luciano broke his agreement with the United States to stay in Italy by running the National Casino. Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather film tries to tie in facts with fictional storytelling, but no one imagined Fidel Castro’s leadership. The Soviet Union was so far away. Moscow was a city covered in snow, whereas Havana had cool breezes that attracted famous writers like Ernest Hemingway to its beaches. "In terms of beauty, only Venice and Paris surpassed Havana". President Kennedy failed to protect the mafia’s money in Cuba. When they insisted Kennedy do something, he failed, and died the same way as Bugsy Siegel. Before Meyer Lansky lost all his money by investing in Havana, Cuba, Charlie Luciano convened a meeting with the Commission known as the Havana Conference. This sparked historical significance for Las Vegas. No one knew that Havana would be overthrown. All interest in the mafia’s money would eventually turn to Nevada’s casinos. Luciano, Lansky, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello listened to Frank Sinatra sing as the Godfathers discussed their Las Vegas investment regarding the Flamingo. With the Commission’s approval, Lansky, Gus Greenbaum, and Moe Sedway invested a million dollars into the Flamingo. The Godfather film has a Vegas leader named Moe Green that takes on Michael Corleone. Moe Green is a combination of the names Gus Greenbaum and Moe Sedway. In reality, developers were stealing from Bugsy as he made frequent trips between Beverly Hills and Las Vegas. Crews would deliver cement during the day, steal it at night, and replace the stolen cement the next day. This practice continued with all the building supplies. Deliver marble tiles, charge for them, receive an invoice, and then steal the marble at night, only to deliver a new shipment with the same marble tiles the next day. Double billing, no oversight, local construction crews worked every angle, because Bugsy wasn’t managing the project with an eye on inventory. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is minutes away from my doorstep. Professors teach entire semesters on the building of Vegas. Siegel was distracted by fame. He had problems with his wife. Friends turned into enemies. He never saw his daughters. Siegel wanted to be a movie star. He wanted to be legitimate. He wanted to divorce his wife and married Virginia Hill. He wanted the respect of Luciano, Costello, and Lansky. He wanted to be a real estate developer, casino operator, and filmmaker, but Siegel had no training - No experience, no on the job training, no inventory control, no control over his own emotions, impulses, and all the developers noticed this. So the concrete workers stole. Foundation builders stole. Glass dealers ripped Siegel off because Siegel made it so easy for them.

“There is a lot we can do to improve America's retirement security.” Harry Reid insists.

Reporting from Las Vegas, Nevada

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