The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-12-16

First of the homecoming Abraham fighting for LOyalist Spain, arrive found a ready market among other Italian immigrants here.
 As a boy, Philip showed business acumen. He prevailed upon his father, who was reluctant, to ex- pand their business and concentrate on the Italian cheese market. Their fortunes rose rapidly after Philip began passing bribes among weigh CTS at the customs office to falsify the invoices on their cheese i'm ports.
 When they were caught, Philip made dramatic gesture in court by shouldering the entire blame. His father consequently was exonerated and Philip was sentenced to prison for a year.
 Out In 6 Months
 In six months he was out, on 8 pardon signed by President Taft. He returned to New York and evolved another scheme for his father the human hair business. Women's styles in those days-1910-ran to high cultures and false hair was in demand. Good hair, of long lengths, was worth $500 pound. Philip and his father formed the United States Hair Company. They thrived and moved to a large house with an ex- pensive lawn and stables for horses. Philip became a dude and mingled with opera society. He met finan- ciers and entertained stage celebri- ties.
 In 1913 Philip went to the Bank of Manhattan Company, informed the executives that he had 216 cases of the finest human hair, worth $370 ,000. He wanted to borrow the full amount on bills of lading and bills of exchange on the hair. The bank lent him only $25, ,00O.
 A few days later, clerk noticed that figures on the bills of lading appeared to have been tempered with. An investigation was made at the Brooklyn pier where the hair was stored. It was of the cheapest variety-worth $250.
 Family Had Gone
 Policemen went to the MuSica home. The family had evacuated with most of the furnishings. This news startled the American Bankers Association which learned at once that the Anglo-South American Bank held eight worthless drafts from Musica drawn on foreign firms and that the banking house of J and w. Seligman had lent Musica $17,000 on false invoices. Further in- vestigation disclosed that g banks had been defrauded of $1,000,000.
 Burns Agency detectives found the Musica family's trail, followed it to New Orleans. Aboard boat ready to leave for Honduras, they found them, listed on the Manifest as the Martin family.
 Louise Musica, Philips sister, ran from the stateroom and tried tC throw a package overheard. It was taken from her and found to con- tain $18,OOO in currency. Other members of the family had $S0,00C among them.
 Philip, who had paid up insur- ance policies for $225, ,000, seized a gun, shouting he wanted to kill himself. He was restrained.
 Son Absolves Father
 Philip again pleaded guilty and absolved his father. He spent three x,aoY re iy1 Y1ricno bn1Yniou o,,tI nritio straighten out his manipulationS In 1916, three years after his arrest he was given suspended sentence
 In the meantime, in 1914, while Philip was in the Tombs, a chicken dealer named Barnet Baff had been murdered. Philip Musica entered the case in 1920, when, in some man. ner, he obtained a job as investiga- tor, or "stool pigeon, for the dis trict attorneys office. Joseph Cohen went on trial for the Baff murder and Musica presented the district attorneys office with an affidavit saying he had heard Cohen ano other gangsters plotting to murder in prison. He also got two witnesses for the state, Hyman Berger ano George Davis, whom he said he hao met in jail.
 Al Smith Saves Cohen
 Cohen was sentenced to death but rumors of perjury caused Governor Alfred E. Smith to commute the sentence to life Imprisonment. Mu- sica was indicted for subornation o1 perjury, charged with having in- duced the witnesses to testify false ly against Cohen. He had left the district attorneys employ and was found at work for 8 lawyer who was defending some of the men involved in the Baff case. There was nc record of Musica having served time on the perjury charge, and from that time until today, his name was never again in the news.
 F. Donald Coster appeared in New York in 1925 seeking loan to expand his business. It was hair tonic firm, Girard and Company, ot Mt. Vernon, N. Y., dealing in stand- ard brands and doing a good bus mess. The records showed that Cos ter had been its president since 1922 He applied at the banking firm of Bond and Goodwin, and Julian F Thompson of that company was as- signed to investigate his standing.
 It looked to Thompson like a good investment. He got Coster addition al bank credits.
 Wanted Million Dollars
 The following year Coster ap- preached Thompson again. He wanted $1,OOO,OO0 to buy McKesson