Empire Of Deception: The Incredible Story Of A Master Swindler Who Seduced A City And Captivated The Nation

The book, "Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation" tells the story of Leo Koretz, a lawyer who enticed hundreds of people to invest in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama. This story is rich with detail and tells of the methods of swindlers throughout history. The book also tells the story of Al Capone and the rise of the American mafia during the 1920s.

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 millionupward of $400 million todayin 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; its a fascinating look at the methods of swindlers throughout history. As Model Ts rumbled down Michigan Avenue, gang-war shootings announced Al Capones rise to underworld domination. As bedecked partygoers thronged to the Drake Hotels 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.