United States Trust Company theft
Encyclopedia
The United States Trust Company theft occurred December 14, 1934, when $590,000 in United States Treasury bills was taken from the offices of the United States Trust Company
in New York City
. On December 14, 14 securities (five $100,000 and nine $10,000) disappeared from the Trust Corporation's securities cage, where high-value currency notes were kept. Police investigated, but all employees had alibis, and thus it was believed the notes had simply been misplaced. The following day, two $10,000 notes were redeemed for cash at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
, and police began looking for the perpetrators of the theft.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
broadcast the serial numbers of the stolen notes, and in June 1935, the FBI arrested Melvin B. Smith in Topeka, Kansas
, after he tried to cash a $10,000 note. Eight other men—Charles Hartman, William R. Evans, Theodore Crowley, Apostolos "Paul" Alexander, Gabriel Marosi, Rocco Joseph DeGrassi, George DeGrassi, and Earl Frederick Palmer—were arrested in April 1936 in connection with the theft. Hartman was found with two $100,000 notes and the Degrassis with another. Hartman, alleged to be the "brains" of the operation, pled guilty to the Trust Company theft and others totaling $6 million, receiving nine months in jail. Apostolos "Paul" Alexander also pled guilty.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
later linked the Trust Company theft to a similar theft of $1.456 million in securities from the Bank of the Manhattan Company
in January 1935. Hoover declared the two crimes were the work of an international gang based in southern France, and subsequent arrests in France recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of additional stolen securities.
Following the French discoveries, additional men were linked to both the Bank of the Manhattan Company theft, the United States Trust Company theft, and the attempted European sale of the proceeds. Five were arrested in July 1936, while four more were arrested between then and December 1939, when John Phillip Spanos was taken into custody after four years as a fugitive in Greece.
U.S. Trust Corporation
United States Trust Corporation is an American bank holding company based in New York, NY. It is the oldest trust company in the U.S., and provides personal wealth management to some of the wealthiest individuals and families.-History:...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. On December 14, 14 securities (five $100,000 and nine $10,000) disappeared from the Trust Corporation's securities cage, where high-value currency notes were kept. Police investigated, but all employees had alibis, and thus it was believed the notes had simply been misplaced. The following day, two $10,000 notes were redeemed for cash at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located at 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey,...
, and police began looking for the perpetrators of the theft.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
broadcast the serial numbers of the stolen notes, and in June 1935, the FBI arrested Melvin B. Smith in Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, after he tried to cash a $10,000 note. Eight other men—Charles Hartman, William R. Evans, Theodore Crowley, Apostolos "Paul" Alexander, Gabriel Marosi, Rocco Joseph DeGrassi, George DeGrassi, and Earl Frederick Palmer—were arrested in April 1936 in connection with the theft. Hartman was found with two $100,000 notes and the Degrassis with another. Hartman, alleged to be the "brains" of the operation, pled guilty to the Trust Company theft and others totaling $6 million, receiving nine months in jail. Apostolos "Paul" Alexander also pled guilty.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
later linked the Trust Company theft to a similar theft of $1.456 million in securities from the Bank of the Manhattan Company
Bank of the Manhattan Company
The Bank of the Manhattan Company is the earliest of the predecessor institutions that eventually formed the current JPMorgan Chase & Co.-History:...
in January 1935. Hoover declared the two crimes were the work of an international gang based in southern France, and subsequent arrests in France recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of additional stolen securities.
Following the French discoveries, additional men were linked to both the Bank of the Manhattan Company theft, the United States Trust Company theft, and the attempted European sale of the proceeds. Five were arrested in July 1936, while four more were arrested between then and December 1939, when John Phillip Spanos was taken into custody after four years as a fugitive in Greece.