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Viewer page 432 of Part 01 of the FBI Vault's Luciano file: a United States Government Office Memorandum dated November 20, 1952, to the Director, FBI, from the Legal Attache, Havana, Cuba, subject Charles Lucky Luciano, General Investigative Intelligence File, with redacted source lines.
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Legal Attache, Havana, to the Director, 20 November 1952: no trace of Luciano in Havana; Lansky's reported share of the Montmartre and bid for Oriental Park

Answering a report that Luciano had flown from Havana to Philadelphia, the Havana office found nothing in airline lists. It relayed informants' reports that Meyer Lansky had bought a share of the Montmartre night club from Pertierra and was trying to secure the Oriental Park concession, with 'his brother JAKE LANSKY' in Havana 'looking after his interests.'

Date
1952-11-20
Kind
case-file
Source
FBI Records: The Vault, Charles (Lucky) Luciano / Salvatore Lucania, Part 01
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Rights
A record of the Federal Bureau of Investigation released under FOIA. A work of the United States government, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The page image of viewer page 432 is stored here.

Viewer pages 420 to 433 of Part 01 hold a short exchange of November 1952. A Newark informant of mixed reliability had said Luciano was recently in Philadelphia, having flown there from Havana; headquarters memoranda of 18 and 21 November record that inquiries in Philadelphia, New York and Newark found nothing. The Legal Attache in Havana answered on 20 November (pages 432-433, stored image page 432) that the passenger lists of the two airlines Luciano would most likely have used from Europe showed nothing.

A source said that “subsequent to the March 10, 1952 coup d’etat of the forces of General Fulgencio Batista, he had heard that efforts were being made to obtain official approval for subject’s entry into Cuba,” and that so far as he knew it was never secured. The memo then repeats earlier reporting: Pertierra “has been the principal owner of the Montmartre Night Club in Havana, where open gambling is in operation, and up till several months ago held the concession at the Oriental Park race track,” and a source had said “that MEYER LANSKY was trying to secure the concession at Oriental Park and that subsequently LANSKY purchased a share of the Montmartre from PERTIERRA.” On page 433 a source says Lansky had to remain in the United States because of a pending charge and that “his brother JAKE LANSKY, is in Havana looking after his interests.”

The writer notes that “when subject was in Havana in 1946 and 1947, MEYER LANSKY was one of his most frequent visitors,” that “The Casino Nacional is not in operation at the present time,” and suggests “the possibility” that Lansky “might be fronting for the subject.” That is a stated possibility built on informants’ reports, not a finding.

itemKefauver Part 7: Meyer Lansky on Havana, the race track, the 'Nationale' casino and Luciano (14 February 1951, pp. 609-614)In a New York executive session Lansky told the committee he was in business in Havana from 'the late years of 1937' with 'the race track, and a casino, Nationale,' that the operation stopped when the war broke out, and that his meetings with Luciano in Havana were 'Purely social.'itemLegal Attache, Havana, to the Director, 19 January 1953: no sign of Luciano in Havana; the Sans Souci's gambling concession 'held by American gambling interests'The Havana office reports a Christmas card from Luciano postmarked Naples and an INS inquiry that found no indication he had been in Havana recently. The INS officer had spoken with a man employed at the Sans Souci night club, 'the gambling concession for which is held by American gambling interests.'itemFBI report of Special Agent Leo J. Fox, Havana, 12 February 1947: Luciano's entry into Cuba, the Pertierra visa, and the gambling at the Gran Casino Nacional and Oriental ParkThe Havana office's first full report states that Luciano arrived at Camaguey by airplane on 29 October 1946 as Salvatore Lucania, that his visa was backed by a Cuban senator's letter, that Congressman Indalecio Pertierra 'reportedly controls the gambling at the Jockey Club at Oriental Park and at the Gran Casino Nacional,' and that Luciano frequented both.