Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-12-02
Author Of BayOna Bubble Ex-
hibits II One Dollar Bills as
Only Apparent Assets -
Freely Tells Prosecutor of
Methods Which c aus e d
Money to Flow Into His Cof-
fers-Faked Story of Oil
Discovery in Panama

Chicago, Dec. LEO Koretz, who
fed from Chicago q year ago, with
a large portion of the $2.OOO.OOO that
friends, relatives and acquaintance
had begged him to invest for them
In a fake Panama Oil scheme, re-
turned today with IL one-dollar bills
in his pocket and the clothes he
wore as his only apparent assets.
Tonight, sitting in the Office OF
the states attorney, Robert T..
Grove, the promoter of the Bayano
oil bubble. who was arrested last
week in Halifax. related his method
of promotion which caused the mon
e. to flow in SO fast that he often
took the cash of his friends and rela-
tives under protest.
Koretz, after making what the
states attorney term a clean breast
of his operations, said that he did
rot expect to interfere with the
course of justice in any way.
His dabbling in the fields OF fl
nance started IS years ago by acct
dent, he said. and ended just a year
ago after the Bayano oil stocks had
successfully rocketed to dizzy
heights and then fallen like q plum
, net.
Many years ago. Koretz told
Grove, a friend who had performed
some service for the government of
Panama, was given some land there
and succeeding in interesting Koretz,
the latter inducing some of his
friends to invest $4,000 In the
Project.
Koretz said soon after this he
went to Panama and found he and
his friends had bought swamp land.
He wanted his money back. he said,
so began selling portions of 5,OOO,-
600 acres of wooded land which he
did not own. The customers, how
ever, were not really attracted, Ko-
retz told Grove, and in order to in
crease business, Koretz announced
the discovery Of oil.
First his deals netted him only
$1,000, he said, but with the oil dis
covery" they jumped to 5000 and
soon money was coming In so fast
that he found difficulty In keeping
customers away. During his is
years of operations, he said he took
in only $2.O00OOO."
Koretz declared he had made alb
solutely no plans to escape In case
he were caught after he fled from
Chicago.
When his financial affairs here be-
gan to look like they were nearing
a crisis a year ago. he said, he went
TO New York. where he used the
name Of Lou Keyte. the same alias
under which he travelled in Hall
fax.
The bookstore which he purchased
in New York was bought for three
purposes-to satisfy desire for rare
books, because he was not satisfied
without some business, and to give
him a place of seclusion. He said
that in Halifax folks considered him
n traveller and writer. SO he had de-
cided to go to Honduras in order
to keep up the deception and divert
SUSPICION If there was any.
He explained that all the money
he had was now in the possession OF
the authorities to be used in paying
his creditors, and that the money
which poured in from his oil stocks
was his only income. He added that
he used some of this to pay interest
Oh stocks held by other clients.
Koretz was not taken to jail but
was allowed to go to Il hotel for the
night in company of several detec-
t.yeS.