Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
FBI office memorandum dated March 14, 1958 from SAC Newark to the Director, subject Confidential Surveillance Transmitter, asking whether one could be installed in a 1951 Cadillac used by Abner Zwillman.
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FBI Vault, Abner Zwillman, Part 04: Newark requests for technical surveillance, 1958

Newark memoranda of 1958 asking FBI headquarters for a "confidential surveillance transmitter" in the car that carried Zwillman and for a microphone at a Newark beverage company, on the stated ground that his operations "are extremely circumspect."

Date
1958
Kind
case-file
Source
FBI Records: The Vault
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Rights
Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation released under the Freedom of Information Act. A federal work, public domain in the United States under 17 U.S.C. § 105. Redactions are as released by the FBI. The stored image is the first page of the part as the Vault viewer serves it.

The Vault viewer shows 68 pages. The stored image is page 1, an office memorandum of March 14, 1958 from the Special Agent in Charge at Newark to the Director, attention Electronics Section, subject “Confidential Surveillance Transmitter.” It asks whether a transmitter could be installed “in a 1951, Series 60 Cadillac, 4-dr. Sedan,” which “is driven by a chauffeur and is used for transportation by ABNER ZWILLMAN, a notorious racketeer and one of the most important top hoodlum figures in this division.”

Later pages include an April 1958 check of the Essex County naturalization petition of his father, and a September 1958 request form for technical or microphone surveillance at the office and warehouse of the Supreme Beverage Company in Newark, operated by an associate the form says may be “a ‘front’” for Zwillman. Asked to explain the prospects of getting the information by other means, the form says (page 58, OCR with the name corrected): “Very poor prospects to date. ZWILLMAN’s operations are extremely circumspect. He has a highly organized operation and commands unusual loyalty and prestige among his associates.” Headquarters memoranda of September 1958 follow.

“Notorious racketeer” and “top hoodlum” are the Newark office’s words and the name of an FBI program, not findings. The request form gives a home address, which is not reproduced. The text is read from a poor OCR; the stored page was read from the image.

itemFBI Vault, Abner Zwillman, Part 01: Newark and New York files, 1935 to 1956First part of the FBI's released Zwillman file, 140 pages: 1935 memoranda on a federal judge's complaint about Newark racketeering, a June 1950 summary memorandum on Zwillman built from informants of varying reliability, and 1951 to 1956 "Top Hoodlum Coverage" memoranda. Read from a poor OCR.itemFBI Vault, Abner Zwillman, Part 02: "Top Hoodlum Coverage" memoranda, 1955 to 1956Second part of the FBI's released Zwillman file, 141 pages of New York and Newark memoranda headed "General Investigative Intelligence File, Abner Zwillman, Top Hoodlum Coverage," including the Newark office's note that his 1956 income-tax trial ended when the jury failed to agree.itemFBI Vault, Abner Zwillman, Part 03: Newark report, December 1957 to early 1958A Newark anti-racketeering report on Zwillman: his background, residences and businesses, associates he acknowledged in a 1938 interview and in 1951 testimony, and the status of his income-tax case after the 1956 hung jury. Read from a poor OCR.itemFBI Vault, Abner Zwillman, Part 05: microphone memoranda of January 1959 on the 1956 juryFBI memoranda of January 1959 reporting that a microphone installed in a Newark beverage company office picked up a conversation indicating that jurors in Zwillman's 1956 tax trial had been approached; the Justice Department asks the Newark office to investigate.itemFBI Vault, Abner Zwillman, Part 06: "Bribery" and "Obstruction of Justice" memoranda, 1959FBI memoranda of 1959 headed "Bribery" and "Obstruction of Justice" about the jury in Zwillman's 1956 tax trial. The first page reports that a press release on "Abner 'Longie' Zwillman, et al." was given to the wire services on February 16, 1959. Most of the OCR is unreadable.itemFBI Vault, Abner Zwillman, Part 07 (Final): a page of notes headed "U.S. v. Zwillman"The last part of the FBI's released Zwillman file is a single scanned page of notes marked "U.S. v. Zwillman," recording information given by a visitor about votes "for acquittal" and "conviction." It is undated and only partly legible.