Real Life Stories About People Who Owe the Mob3

By Ryan Rosado, Feb 15, 2012 in Offbeat, Pop Culture

Nowadays when some people think of the “Mob” the image of a Flash Mob might come to mind. Most people will agree this is the good kind of Mob. The bad kind of Mob is one that will make you hide under the sheets and wet them. The kind from films and television shows like “The Sopranos, “The Godfather” and the new 8-part Internet television series “Clutch” where female protagonist, Kylie, a streetwise pickpocket who survives on looks, charm, and sticky fingers, uses almost any means necessary to work her way through the big leagues of organized crime when she discovers the love of her life owes the Mob real money. However, the real life threat of the Mob and real life stories of people who owe them a means of repayment is something not entirely fictional like the titles mentioned above.

Clutch – Your Ex Lover is Dead: Part 1

The emergence of people owing the Mob all began in the 1920s and 1930s when the emergence of Loan Sharks first occurred. During this time period loans carried a stigma to white- and blue-collared folks alike, so obtaining a loan was usually done on the down low. However, once the government caught wind of these unseemly transactions, laws were put into place to hinder future poorly regulated loan exchanges from taking place. Therefore, most Loan Sharks resorted to high-risk borrowers such as gambling operators, thieves, criminals, and businessmen in dire need of loans. These were the ideal clients since exposing themselves would lead to getting entangled with the law. Therefore, Loan Sharks, the original gangsters, sometimes used violence to enforce payment for these borrowers who owed them money. Eventually, Loan Sharks evolved into organized crime families like the Gambinos and the Colombos.

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One real life story of people who owed the Mob took place on December 11, 1978 when the Lufthansa Heist took place. In order to repay his debt of $20,000 in gambling activities, John F. Kennedy International Airport worker, Louis Werner, tipped bookmaker, Martin Krugman, off that millions of dollars in untraceable money was shipped through Kennedy Airport on a monthly basis. Krugman, who worked for Jimmy Burke, an associate of the Lucchese crime family, presented this as an opportunity to acquire millions of dollars in cash. American currency flown in from monetary exchanges for servicemen and tourists in West Germany by way of Lufthansa was the source of this heist money. On the night of December 11, Burke and his Mob associates completed the Lufthansa heist in 64 minutes stealing $6 million. At the time this was the largest-ever cash robbery on U.S. soil. All this stemmed from Werner owing the Mob $20,000. Subsequent movies inspired by this famous heist include “The 10 Million Dollar Getaway,” “The Big Heist” and was included in the plot of “Goodfellas.”

Another real life story of people who owe the Mob occurred in early 2011 when Tony Darrow, aka Anthony Borgese, from HBO’s “The Sopranos” (where he played “Larry Boy” Barese), was involved in a Mafia extortion plot. Currently serving 6 months house arrest, Borgese used violent means of extortion via the famous Gambino crime family in order to collect debt from an unidentified victim who owed $5,000.00 to a loan shark. Members of the Gambino Family savagely beat the victim who fortunately survived. In this case, art does imitate life. Borgese got off fairly easily as he was facing 33-41 months in prison for this atrociously heinous act that stemmed from owing the Mob.

One final story about people who owed a Mob/drug dealer is the murder of Nicholas Markowitz. In August 2000 a feud between Benjamin Markowitz and former famous Los Angles drug dealer, Jesse James Hollywood, developed due to Benjamin Markowitz owing Hollywood $1,200 for drugs. While Hollywood and his mob were on their way to harass Benjamin Markowitz for his debt, they spotted Benjamin’s 15 year old brother Nicholas walking on the side of the road. Nicholas was kidnapped, taken to a series of random locations throughout Los Angeles and eventually murdered by Hollywood’s mobsters. The movie “Alpha Dog” was inspired by the true-life events of Nicholas Markowitz’s murder.

So the moral of the story is… stay clear of the Mob and don’t be put in a position to owe them money. This typically does not end well for the debtor. The real life stories of these individuals are mortifying and unfortunate and stand as an example of the seriousness of getting involved with the wrong crowd. Stay in school kids, and don’t owe a mobster any lunch money!

If you’ve heard of any other real life stories of people who owe the Mob, sound off below and leave a comment. Or else…

Clutch – Your Ex Lover is Dead: Part 2

Watch the next episode of the new alt-femme fatale thriller series CLUTCH

Passionately into marketing communications and writing, Ryan Rosado is an entrepreneur who splits his time performing marketing communications work for the U.S. Army and developing his side business, Lion’s Roar Marketing. Ryan graduated from George Mason University in 2009 with a B.S. in Marketing and resides in the DC metropolitan area. To find out more about Ryan Rosado and read other work by him, check out his blog at roarmkting.com/blog for the latest on social media, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Let your ROAR be heard!