‘Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107 Hote}. DATE: 11-14-2017 JFK Assassination System Date: 5/1/2015 ° Identification Form Agency Information AGENCY: FBI . | RECORD NUMBER: —124-10212-10135 RECORD SERIES: HQ AGENCY FILENUMBER: © CR 62-9-210-15 Document Information ORIGINATOR: FBI. FROM: LEG, HAVANA TO: DIRECTOR, FBI TITLE: DATE: = 12/29/1958 PAGES: 3 SUBJECTS : , MZF, ASSOC, THP, B/F INT, GAMBLING DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION: — Unclassified RESTRICTIONS: 4 CURRENT STATUS: — Redact DATE OF LASTREVIEW: — 07/23/1996 OPENING CRITERIA: INDEFINITE COMMENTS : v9.1 , ‘ 2 Docld: 32293859 Page 1
TO : Director, FBI co" eo rrom ; —«- Legat., Havana (64-153) AMERICAN/GAMBLING ACTIVITIES IN°CUBA,. . SUBJECT: ANTI-RACKETEERING | DECLASSIFIED BY oo Uhm ig 8 Reference Havana letters August 27, and September 8, 1958, C .. ; ‘hae -and Miami teletype of October 23, 1958, transmitting information ‘received from Legat, Havana. . a we pe A Set forth below is additional information which has come pr | tothe attention of the Legat, Havana, congerning:the:zacitgwvities and ae -caginterests of American gamblers in Cuba; AND FIED 4 b "4 RA _— MA _. ADVISED BYy ce a ; GENERAL INFORMATION: — of gpurp(sy OF ACA cccat a re ES pyri” TNE Bee eg ss ®he disturbed political situation in Cuba and the resulting decrease in tourism has had a severe affect in recent months on the gambling casinos in Havana. Most of the casinos are barely breaking even, It is apparent, however, that American gamblers continue to ;; have an optimistic long-range view concerning the eventual. success i vief gambling casinos in Cuba. In récent months on the occasions when | { { { | “ye gamblers have sold interests in casinos, there has apparently, been AS ma number of other gamblers interested in buying those interests. aves Sin addition, the Legat, Havana, continues to receive information | | indicating that other gamblers in the United States are planning to invest in and construct more casinos in Cuba as soon as the political situation stabilizes, “ N we - Qn 9/29/58, T. James Ennis, manager of the Hotel . & Havana-Riviera, advised that he was informed by a Florida hotel © manager named (FNU): VON HAGEN that VON HAGEN was interested in - i setting up an island-wide punch board operation in Cuba. VON HAGEN . © stated that PILAR GARCIA, Chief, Cuban National Police, had indicated = that he. would allow such an operation if given a percentage. N on 12/18/58, HAV-31 informed that a new gambling casino Bone of small size called The*Colony ‘would shortly open up on the Isle t : of Pines, Cuba, and that this casino would be operated by an a . individual named BEN/FINNEY and another individual named PHIL =)  , 2 litivivHAV-31 also informed that an individual named STANLEY “S2SPENSKY, who, formerly owned a number of houses of prostitution and/} - atot. machines in Steubenville, Ohio, had just been released from - *prigo ~where he had been. doing Xt @ for murder't and was in Havana — ro) on Togking Tor? gambling yppgrat in which he could invest money ND pak ; a! die Son Peng t Qc: Lett 0: 1CaPEE: oe “Pace Ce bE qh aa au | SO jes TNE et Re Ne x . : . ees 1 Cle OF oa ; iE A TTS Docld: 32293859 Page 2?
Reléased wniileF the John ‘FO Renmedy Assassination ‘Records “Colléction Act of 19927 (44 USC “RIU7 Hote}. DATE: Alp >id- mee 2 . . oN 1 a a , r ~ : + ; \ Auk. 5 wn Havana 64-153 12/29/58 [arrest pressure was brought upon witnesses, investigating officers and newspaper reporters, as well as the girl herself, to “forget about the whole thing." Source noted that one Cuban newspaper — reporter wrote an article intimating that SCALIA was linked with the MAFIA, Source stated this newspaper reporter was Subsequently threatened with death-if he did not "forget about the MAFIA and ~ keep his mouth shut." Source said that the principal police officer : who had acted:on: behalf of SCALIA in this sti. {/ a Colonel IRENALDO GARCIA BAEZ, the head of SIM. (SANs. SSOUCT. _NIGHT CLUB ‘CASINO: Lava. has: Cc bas . ‘The Sans ‘Souci Night Club and casino continues to be |. operated by SANTO TRAFFICANTE. On 12/19/58, HAV-33 informed that TRAFFICANTE, his wife and their two daughters had been observed in the Sans Souci casino on 12/15/58. — Source said that a- ‘nephew, of aN . TRAFFICANTE named SANTO JOSEMTRAFFICANTE is now managing | Losko ,\ an adjunct to the Sans “souci,” which operates as a gambling casino” oe \ for the "poorer money crowd." Cii 84 Heiner te. | re tk. tie AARORICANA NIGHT CLUB AND CASINO: .. a “FLORES ermine eee RS NN Leo a ar oe bi. ‘ ‘The Tropicana ‘continues to to be be owned “by “aban interests, eof principally. MARTI NYFOX and ALBERTO“ARDURAYMOYA, In the past ARDURACUM~ | | -“has been described’ as the "bag man" for General Roberto Fernandez ~~~ Miranda, the brother-in-law of President: FULGENCIO BATISTA. 4 CUBR The new manager of the casino is LOUIS) MCWILLIE, ~ e a Dallas, Texas, gambler who replaced WILLIAM GUSTO BISCHOFF (Miami Top Hoodlum). BISCHOFF now owns part of the money craps game. at the Hotel Capri casino. HonsE [SEV IntA-BILTWORE CASINO:, Viaugua, Cobad AS previously indicated, the Hotel ‘Sevilla-Biltmore casino is owned by AMLETT ‘ ITISTI, Cuban Congressman, Sources have advised Legat, Havana, .that BATISTI has ~ been observed on numerous occasions in conversation with SANTO. TRAFFICANTE, JR., and that there are . indications that these conversations are relatéd to "bolita" operations in Florida. It should be noted that BATISTI is considerédto be the biggest "numbers" banker in Cuba. ~NORIENTAL PARK RACE TRACK AND CASINO: — Wlayaa. Cuber care reece ; : The Oriental Pa K Race ‘grack and gambling casino continues | to be operated by "cnoReppESVINS. Cv BAR On 9/15/58, JOE MEDINA, American Express Company representative in Havana (conceal), advised. that LEVINE had seen him on that date and had requested MEDINA to wire $20, 000 to cons Marni e/e Central Bank Docld: 32293859 Page 3