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Show NOTED SWINDLER TAKENjjy SHERIFF LEO KORETZ, CHICAGO MAN UN. DER ARREST AT HALIFAX AFTER LONG CHASE Alleged to Have Made Millions From Friends and Relatives In One of Nations Largest (: Swindles Halifax, N. S. Leo Koretz, alias Lou Keytes, alleged international swindler and crook, said to be the smoothest and most resourceful confidence con-fidence man in the Unitod States and wanted in Chicago in connection with a flO,000,000 stock swindle, was arrested in a leading hotel here by Deputy Sheriff R. H. Scriven and Provincial Constable Malcolm R. Mitchell. Mit-chell. The arresting officers were acting under instructions of John A. Sharbaro and William McSwipgin, assistant state's attorneys of Cook county, Chicago, 111., who arrived in Halifax on the Ocean Limited in search of Koretz. In a circular issued by the Chicago postoffice department a reward of ,U0,0OO is offered for his capture, and states the charge of using the mails to defraud against him. Chicago, Leo Koretz put over one of the most gigantic swindles in the history of Chicago crookedness. Starting as a broker, it was estimated estimat-ed at the time of his disappearance December 5, 1923, that he had swindled swind-led guillible friends of fully $10,000,-000. $10,000,-000. It is certain that the amount exceeded five millions', but many of his victims, humiliated by their blind faith, swallowed their losses and said nothing. Koretz specialized in rice plantations planta-tions in Arkansas and oil fields in Oklahoma for a time. To investors he paid remarkable dividends? paid them out of money obtained from fresh "suckers." Soon he had built up a clientele that accepted his word on any proposition and clamored for him to invest their money, A majority major-ity of those who had received fat dividends brought the money back, with additional funds, and reinvested it Then came the masterpiece by Koretz. Ko-retz. He organized the Bayano Oil company, supposed to own extremely valuable lands just south of the Panama Pan-ama canal district. According to the glittering prospectus, this fabulous territory contained not only oil in limitless quantity, but gold mines, diamond mines and a great fortune alone in bananas and other tropica! fruits. Part of the immense plan was to establish a private line of freight steamers and a palatial pas senger steamer service for the stockholders. stock-holders. The Koretz clientele fell for this enterprise with great spontaneity. They beseiged his luxurious office night and day and threw their money over the transom of his main office door, with pleas- that he invest iL It must be said to the credit of Koretz that he picked only the rich, and chiefly those of his own race and jeligion. Unlike other swindlers, ho did not specialize in the poor. He was out for big game, and it came to his door. After he had gathered in millions of dollars, it occurred to a group of investor?: to make a trip to the mar velous Bayano coutry and look ovei the proposition. Krretz encourag"d the plan and arranged a special steamer and letters of introduction for them. About the time they were swinging i r: to the Panama canal TCoretz quietly faded from viovr. The ewmmittee found nothing but a bar wn waste. The mythical officials to whom thry bore letters of intio duction coul not he found, for the obvious reason that they did nol exb-t except in the fertile: imagination of Koretz. Koretz disappeared early in December, Decem-ber, 1023, and no reliable trace has been had of hirn since. It is known that he went from here to New York and was believed to be living in luxurious lux-urious quarters there. Then came stories that he had hidden in Fi-rope; Fi-rope; that he had gone to Koirtli America; that he waw actually hilling in Chicago; but these leads proved of no avail. His wife turned over their costly automobiles, jewelry worth thousands nnd some other property, which afforded but mite for the swindled creditors. |