An organized-crime figure specializes in financial shenanigans as
intricate as any imaginable. No goomba-come-lately, Saggio was a
fourth-generation member of an extended Mafia family. Here, with
his first-person account buttressed by crime journalist Rosen's
narrative, Saggio explains why he chose to operate independently:
"I didn't want anyone bustin' my balls. . . . If I wasn't with any
crew, I could move around and not answer to anyone." He made money
and paid the vig to whoever controlled the turf-and what a turf it
was, from drugs to cigarettes to car thefts, but most fascinatingly
on Wall Street, where Saggio figured out how to "get a hook into a
firm, bring the wiseguys in, and the exploit the situation." This
involved IPO scams like dumping stocks after an early purchase. "I
had a vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank and a vice president
at European American Bank who would handle my accounts and
transactions personally," the mobster boasts; Paine Webber and
Shearson Lehman also figured in the equation. But Saggio's
independence required an exquisite appreciation of balance and a
knowledge of who was who within the five New York crime families.
("Patty and his brother Joey were with Roy DeMeo, who ran a crew
for Nino Gaggi, a skipper with the Gambinos.") His connections were
always in flux-now with the Columbos, now with the Luccheses, the
Genoveses, the Bonannos, the Gambinos-and when Saggio eventually
ran afoul of the truly nasty Tommy D., he turned to the witness
protection program, which comes across as a deeply amateurish
operation. The everyday lawlessness and violence here is
omnipresent; there's no running, no hiding, no avenue of escape
from Mob influence, and law-abiding readers may feel as though a
rasp is being drawn across their foreheads. If what Saggio says is
true, and there's little reason to believe it's not, readers are
advised to think twice before their next flutter on an IPO. (Kirkus
Reviews)
Frankie Saggio reminisces about the era of true wise guys like his
Uncle Philly --a contemporary of Al Capone. After all, it was
Frankie's uncle who "taught him the value of a dollar and how to
steal it from someone else." Uncle Philly was from a day when being
in a mafia family meant being bound by blood and honor, not like
modern day families whose only concern is money. For Frankie, the
only way to avoid the modern mob treachery is to avoid getting
involved with any single mob family, working "freelance" for all
five. Frankie can do this because he is one of the biggest earners
in the business, pulling down millions and kicking a share upstairs
to the bosses. Though he fights the decision, Frankie is tied by
blood to the Bonanno family, Uncle Philly's family, and current
home to Philly's murderer. Soon after joining the Bonannos, Frankie
narrowly escapes an assassination attempt and is busted for a major
scam. With little choice, and even less loyalty to the Bonannos,
Frankie turns himself over to the Feds on the one condition that he
will tell the feds everything, but will not squeal on his own
relatives.
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