Evening star., 1938-12-17
10CosterProbesSeek
International Plots.
Ro|ein Bocking.Wors
Mail Froud, Alcohol
And Tax Quizzes
On-Cunudu Acts
BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND
Ten days ago an application
TOR receiUership for McKeSSon d.
Robbins, Inc, ,UaS filed BY stock
holder in Hartford, Conn.,, alleg-
ing the compdny'S accounts con-
~, tdined false items in eTceSS OF
s10,000.000." Trading of the
firms stock 1Das suspended on
the NeD York Stock Exchange,
and three days later four sep
, arate probes ,Uere begun Which
resulted in the arrest OF F. DON
aid CoSter-MuSicd, president OF
the firm, and three aides 1Uho
turned out to be his brothers.
Unearthed UdS nearly unique
crime story quarter century
long.
By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Dec. 17-Still more
sensational disclosures of the in
credible web of international finan-
cial intrigue spun by F. Donald
Coster, the wizard whose magic
failed. were forecast today with 10
investigations seeking to unravel the
tangled skein.
The taking developments
yesterday, climaxed when Coster-
Musica ended his -lives-in lone
by firing a bullet into his brain, in
n O.
of the $87 900 900 McKesson & Rob-
bins Drug Co. of $4,000, 900 in assets
was only one of his many far-flung
extra-legal activities.
Investigators pushed inquiries into
reports that Coster, really Philip
Musica, an Italian-born immigrant
and eX-convict, had, as head of the
worlds third largest wholesale drug
concern, helped finance one South
American war and assisted in snug
Cling arms to Spain in violation of
the neutrality act.
May Involve Living Persons.
So significant did this develop
ment appear to Assistant Attorney
General Ambrose " Mccall that he
abruptly adjourned the States in
vestigation until Monday in order to
study the case.
THE attorney general has OBJ
tained information of the wholesale
sale of arms and ammunition which
may involve living persons, he said.
He refused to amplify the statement.
The United States attorneys office
also disclosed it had begun an in
quiry into reports that Coster had
helped finance Bolivia in its war
with Paraguay over the Chaco
boundary in return for promise of
a.quinine monopoly.
60 Officials Called.
Meanwhile, between so and 60
executives from offices maintained
by McKesson-Robb were sub
poenaed to appear before the Fed
eral grand jury Monday with rec
ords for the past 10 years"
Many of those called reported yes
terday but were told to return Mon
day. One executive, from a New
Jersey office, told United States At
torney Irving H. kaufman, IF you
want our records for the past 10
years you'd better send over several
trucks
In all, it was learned, about $50
subpoenas have been issued for the
inquiry.
Further furore accompanied the
disclosure that papers connected
with an indictment against CoSter-
Musica l8 years ago were missing
from the Office of the chief clerk
OF the General Sessions Court here
The missing documents were in
dictments, filed against Coster, then
known under his real name of
Musica, for forging of evidence and
bribery of a witness in a murder
case, in 1920. The indictments
later were dismissed.
Eight Other Inquiries.
Eight other inquiries were under
way into the labryinthine affairs
of the self-slain business titan and
those of his three brothers, all
connected with the drug company
and each held under 100000 bail.
The agencies and what they are
investigating:
l. United States postal authoriti-
ties, seeking to learn whether ma
nipulators of the drug company's
supplies had used the mails to
defraud.
2. The Securities and Exchange
Commission, which Regional Direc-
tor James j. Caffrey said had failed
to locate a nickel's worth of the
$18,000,000 assets in the firms
raw drug department.
3. The income tax division of the
Canadian Revenue Department. 1t
issued writs of conservatory attach
ment against assets of Canadian
affiliates of McKesson & Robbins.
Tax, Pure Food Probes.
4. The United States Bureau of
Internal Revenue. conducting
sweeping inquiry into the drug firms
income tax payments A shortage
of $77,146 in income tax payments
for 1881 has been charged.
S. The alcohol unit of the U. S.
Treasury. Agents in Hartford, Conn,
are checking to uncover possible
violations of the Alcohol Tax Act.
g. The United States Department
Of Agriculture. An accusation that
the drug company had violated pure