Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Half-length photograph of Meyer Lansky in a light suit facing the camera, with another man behind him at left; a damaged strip of the print crosses his waist.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, New York World-Telegram & Sun collection: "No known restrictions on publication for NYWT&S staff photographs." Call number NYWTS - BIOG--Lansky, Meyer--Gangster; reproduction number LC-USZ62-120718.

Meyer Lansky

A 1952 Justice Department release in the FBI Vault states that he "allegedly has gambling interests in Hollywood, Miami, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Las Vegas, Nev." He told the Kefauver Committee he had "the race track, and a casino, Nationale" in Havana from 1937 until the war, and FBI reports place him in Havana gambling until the revolution. An FBI Miami report records his March 1971 indictment on a charge of conspiring to skim profits from the Flamingo Hotel Casino.

Born
1902-07-04
Source
FBI Records: The Vault, Meyer Lansky
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.

On the record

  • 1902 — A Justice Department release of December 19, 1952 states that Lansky "was born July 4, 1902, at Grodna, Russia, and arrived in the United States April 4, 1911," and was naturalized in Brooklyn on September 27, 1928.
  • 1937/1941 — Before the Kefauver Committee in executive session on 14 February 1951 he testified that he was in business in Havana "In the late years of 1937," that "I had the race track, and a casino, Nationale," leased "from the National City Bank," and that "we stopped when the war broke out" (Hearings, Part 7, pp. 610-612). His testimony does not say whether the casino was in the Hotel Nacional or was the Gran Casino Nacional at Marianao.
  • 1946-12/1947-02 — An FBI report of 22 March 1947 records that Luciano "admitted that MEYER LANSKY, BENJAMIN SIEGEL and FRANK COSTELLO had visited him in Cuba," and that Hotel Nacional records show Lansky checking in on 27 December 1946, 6 January 1947 and 24 February 1947. The report describes visits and registrations, not a meeting.
  • 11 October 1950 — Asked by Kefauver Committee counsel "Did you ever have an interest in the Flamingo Hotel at Las Vegas?", Lansky answered "I decline to answer on the ground that it may tend to incriminate me" (Hearings, Part 7, p. 151).
  • 15 November 1950 — Moe Sedway testified before the Committee at Las Vegas that Siegel was interested in the El Cortez Hotel about 1945 along with Lansky and Greenbaum (Part 10, p. 89).
  • 14 February 1951 — Asked about Luciano in Havana, he said he may have seen him there, "Purely social," and that he stayed at "The Nationale" (Kefauver Hearings, Part 7, pp. 612-613).
  • 20 November 1952 — The FBI Legal Attache in Havana relayed a source's report that Lansky "purchased a share of the Montmartre" night club from Indalecio Pertierra and was trying to secure the Oriental Park concession, with "his brother JAKE LANSKY" in Havana "looking after his interests." Informant reporting.
  • 19 December 1952 — The Justice Department release states that "Lansky allegedly has been a close associate of leading gamblers and racketeers in this country and allegedly has gambling interests in Hollywood, Miami, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Las Vegas, Nev."
  • 3 February 1958 — An FBI headquarters memorandum states that he is "now spending most of time in Havana, Cuba, where he has interests in gambling enterprises," and that he "has been connected with race track and gambling casino operations in Havana since at least 1938."
  • 21 February 1958 — The FBI Legal Attache in Havana reported that Havana newspapers "published the fact that the Cuban Government by order of President Fulgencio Batista had officially prohibited the return to Cuba of MEYER LANSKY effective February 21, 1958," confirmed by the Minister of the Interior. The record does not say when or whether the order was lifted.
  • February 1961 — An FBI Miami airtel states that "prior to the revolution in Cuba, LANSKY was active in legalized gambling in Cuba" and that after Castro took power he returned to the United States; it also says past investigation "has never established concrete evidence" that he directly violated a federal statute within the FBI's primary jurisdiction.
  • 1 October 1963 — Joseph Valachi testified: "Anywhere where Meyer Lansky is, Vito Genovese is," and that they "do everything together" (Senate narcotics hearings, p. 159). A witness's opinion.
  • 25 March 1971 — An FBI Miami report says Lansky, Morris Lansburgh and Sam Cohen "were indicted by a FGJ, Miami, Florida, on March 25, 1971" and "charged with conspiracy to skim profits from the Flamingo Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, during the years 1960 to 1967."
  • 14 June 1973 — An FBI note of June 15, 1973 says Lansky was sentenced on June 14, 1973 to one year and one day for criminal contempt, for failing to answer a grand jury subpoena in March 1971 "concerning the illegal skimming of funds from Las Vegas casinos."

This page is limited to the records cited. No federal record opened for this page states a family or rank for Lansky. Joseph Valachi’s 1963 testimony that Lansky and Vito Genovese “do everything together” is a witness’s opinion, not a placement in any family. A 1958 FBI New York report connects him with the “casino in the new Hotel Havana Riviera,” but the line is a fragment after a withheld page, and a 1958 informant report that he “had a large interest in the casino” at the Hotel Nacional is relayed in a 1971 FBI summary; neither is a finding. The Justice Department release and the FBI reports state allegations and charges. They are not findings. An indictment is a charge, and the records opened do not give the outcome of the Flamingo case.

Newspaper statements that no one could operate in Havana without his approval, or that he was Batista’s partner, are quoted in the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Time, Inc. v. McLaney only as press clippings a reporter relied on; the court made no such finding, and this page does not adopt them. His Havana records are gathered on the Havana page. Of the Vault’s 27-part Lansky file, Parts 01 to 04 and 06 to 10 were read for Havana references and Parts 20 and 22 for the Flamingo case; the viewer would not open Part 05.

Records

itemJustice Department release on the petition to cancel Meyer Lansky's naturalization (19 December 1952)A Justice Department press release of December 19, 1952, filed in the FBI Vault's Lansky file, announcing a petition to cancel Meyer Lansky's naturalization and stating that he allegedly has gambling interests in Hollywood, Miami, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Las Vegas.itemFBI Miami report on the 1971 Flamingo skimming indictment of Meyer Lansky and others (1973)Pages of an FBI Miami report of 1973 stating that Meyer Lansky, Morris Lansburgh and Sam Cohen were indicted by a Miami federal grand jury on March 25, 1971 on a charge of conspiracy to skim profits from the Flamingo Hotel Casino in Las Vegas during 1960 to 1967.itemMeyer Lansky, 1958 (Library of Congress)New York World-Telegram & Sun staff photograph by Al Ravenna of Meyer Lansky, half-length and facing front, dated 1958 by the Library of Congress. A copy is stored here.itemMeyer Lansky booked for vagrancy at the 54th Street station, 1958 (Library of Congress)World-Telegram & Sun staff photograph by Orlando Fernandez of Meyer Lansky at the 54th Street police station in New York City, captioned as his booking for vagrancy. A copy is stored here.itemKefauver Committee, Las Vegas session (15 November 1950)The printed record of the Special Committee's Las Vegas session of November 15, 1950 (Part 10, pp. 1-104): testimony on the race-wire service, the Flamingo Hotel's ownership, the Desert Inn and Benjamin Siegel, by Nevada officials, Louis Wiener, Wilbur Clark and Moe Sedway.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.'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.itemFBI memorandum, A. Rosen to E. A. Tamm, 14 February 1947: who helped Luciano enter Cuba, and his reported gambling associates in HavanaSummarizing the Legal Attache's radiograms, headquarters records that Luciano had help from Congressman Pertierra and Senator Manuel Capestany, that he 'is managing gambling concessions at the Jockey Club and National Casino for Pertierra,' and that he was associated with Charles Simms, Conrad Immerman, Victor Vesta and Meyer Lansky.itemFBI report of Special Agent Leo J. Fox, Havana, 22 March 1947: Luciano's arrest and deportation, and the visits by Lansky, Siegel and CostelloThe closing report on Luciano in Cuba: arrested in Havana on 22 February 1947 and deported to Italy on 20 March 1947; 'No evidence developed indicating LUCIANO engaged in narcotic trafficking or other illegal activities in Cuba'; and 'LUCIANO admitted that MEYER LANSKY, BENJAMIN SIEGEL and FRANK COSTELLO had visited him in Cuba,' with Lansky's three Hotel Nacional registrations.itemLegal 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 ParkAnswering 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.'itemFBI memorandum, F. L. Price to Mr. Rosen, 3 February 1958, and New York report on Meyer Lansky: 'now spending most of time in Havana, Cuba, where he has interests in gambling enterprises'A headquarters memorandum on the Lansky Anti-Racketeering case states that he is 'now spending most of time in Havana, Cuba, where he has interests in gambling enterprises' of variable extent, and that he has been connected with race track and gambling casino operations in Havana 'since at least 1938.' A New York report lists his Havana hangouts.itemFBI Legal Attache, Havana, letter and New York report, February-April 1958: the Cuban government 'by order of President Fulgencio Batista' bars Meyer Lansky's returnThe Legal Attache in Havana reported that Havana newspapers of 22 February 1958 'published the fact that the Cuban Government by order of President Fulgencio Batista had officially prohibited the return to Cuba of MEYER LANSKY effective February 21, 1958,' and that the Minister of the Interior confirmed it.itemFBI Miami airtel to the Director on Meyer Lansky, February 1961: 'prior to the revolution in Cuba, LANSKY was active in legalized gambling in Cuba'Reviewing all Lansky material in its files, the Miami office reported that past investigation 'has never established concrete evidence' that he directly violated a federal statute within the FBI's primary jurisdiction, and that 'prior to the revolution in Cuba, LANSKY was active in legalized gambling in Cuba,' returning to the United States after Castro took power.itemFBI Correlation Summary on Santo Trafficante, Jr. (main file 92-2781, searched 4 March 1971): Havana entries for 1955-1958A 1971 headquarters digest of Bureau references, marked 'NOT SUITABLE FOR DISSEMINATION,' records Legal Attache and informant reports placing Trafficante at the Sevilla Biltmore, the Sans Souci, the Hotel Nacional, the Capri and the Havana-Riviera, nearly all with 'reportedly,' 'allegedly' or 'appeared.'itemSenate narcotics hearings, 1 October 1963: Valachi, 'Anywhere where Meyer Lansky is, Vito Genovese is,' and 'I knew in Havana' (p. 159)Asked about Genovese's establishment in Las Vegas, Joseph Valachi said 'Anywhere where Meyer Lansky is, Vito Genovese is,' that he knew the places in Havana but not in Las Vegas 'since they went out of Havana,' and that Lansky and Genovese 'do everything together.'itemTime, Inc. v. McLaney, 406 F.2d 565 (5th Cir. 1969): Life's 1967 article on 'Havana gamblers' in the Bahamas, and the press reports the reporter relied onThe Fifth Circuit directed summary judgment for the publisher of Life in a libel suit by Mike McLaney, holding that the record showed no actual malice. The opinion quotes 1958-59 newspaper reports on Meyer Lansky and Havana gambling as material the reporter had before him; those quotations are not findings of the court.