WARNING: EXPLICIT MATERIAL

Meyer Lansky

AKA:

The Mob's Accountant

Birth Name:

Maier Suchowljansky

Birth Date:

July 4, 1902

Birth Place:

Grodno, Russia

Death Date:

January 15, 1983

Place of Death:

Mount Sinai Hospital, Miami, Florida

Age:

Cause of Death:

Lung cancer

Cemetery Name:

Mount Nebo Miami Memorial Gardens

Claim to Fame:

Crime and their Victims

Meyer Lansky was one of the most important figures in the development of organized crime in New York, nationwide and worldwide in the 20th century. Known as "The Mob's Accountant" Lansky’s work spanned the pre-Prohibition days of the New York City rackets, where he had an early partnership with Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, to the consolidation of the New York Mob under Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, and on to the development of Las Vegas and Havana, Cuba, as “open cities” for the Mob. He controlled casinos in the Bahamas and in London, as well as, reportedly, a Swiss-based bank through which he laundered profits. The authorities described him as a genius of finance who applied his Midas touch to bootlegging in the Prohibition era, to gambling in Cuba, the Bahamas and the United States and to loan-sharking, stock manipulation and underworld penetration of legitimate businesses throughout the United States.

Where Did The Money Go?

After Prohibition ended in 1933, Lansky successfully parlayed his fortune into gambling interests around the United States (and ultimately internationally). He encouraged other mobsters to invest in Cuba, where eventually he owned or had financial interest in at least three casinos: the Habana Riviera, the Hotel Nacional and the Montmartre Club. In the 1940s, Lansky also began investing in Las Vegas casinos, and assigned his friend Siegel to oversee construction of the Flamingo Hotel. At the height of his success, it was estimated that Lansky was worth approximately $20 million (difficult to say given that Lansky never put him name on any asset). Unfortunately on January 8, 1959, Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries took control of Havana, setting up a command post in the Hilton. The new Cuban president, Manuel Urrutia Lleó, took steps to close the casinos and in October 1960, Castro nationalized all the island’s hotel-casinos and outlawed gambling. Lansky lost everything he invested in Cuba.

Lansky lived in Miami until his death of lung cancer in 1983. Federal authorities claimed the mobster still had hidden wealth to the tune of $300 million, but Lansky himself, the man who built and sold casinos like chess pieces, said he was nearly broke. At the time of his death, he had less than $35,000 in his bank account.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Mount Nebo Miami Memorial Gardens

5505 NW 3rd Street

Miami, Florida, 33126

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Mount Nebo Miami Memorial Gardens in West Miami, Florida

Grave Location:

Lansky Family Plot

Grave Location Description

As you drive through the entrance of the cemetery, drive all the way to the back row and park at the circular plot of graves closest to the highway bordering the cemetery. Facing the highway, the Mob’s Accountant – Meyer Lansky – memorial can be found to the left of the circle right on the road.