The Washington times., 1939-01-12
.s451,OOO FOUND
IN CONCEALED
COSTER ASSETS
Musica Family Members
Enjoined by Court


NEW YORK, Jan. IL GN.SO.
Four hundred and fifty-one thou
sand dollars of the 11,000, 1000 al
legedly stolen by F. Donald Coster
from McKesson & Robbins, Inc,
will be replaced through the To-
eating today Of assets of Coster
and his coconspirators.
William j. Wardell, trustee Of
the wholesale drug firm, has To-
Gated and tied up $360,000 in in
surance policies, $4,000 in three
bank accounts in Montreal bank
and $4,000 in a New York bank.
At his request Federal Judge
Coke signed an order enjoining all
members of the Musica family and
some Is other individuals and cor
porations from disposing of any
of their assets.
S15O,OOO TO BLACKMAILERS
At the same time, names and
figures in the diaries left by the
self-destroyed president of McKes-
son & Robbins revealed he had
paid $150,000 to a single ring of
blackmailers when they threat
ened to expose him as Philip
Musica, former convict.
Coster himself revealed the iden-
tity of the mysterious F. Donald
Coster, jr., who rented office space
in Montreal for one of the several
fictitious companies maintained
by his father" Swiftly following
this lead, Federal agents expect to
bring this man to the Federal
building today for questioning.
The second lead uncovered in
diaries involves man who is af-
filiated with one of the nations S
most prominent banking families,
it was learned.
DIARIES KEY TO CASE
Until the diaries we're recovered,
Federal agents were able to obtain
only slight and vague references
linking his name to Coster'S fan
tastic manipulationS. For the first
time he now has been directly con-
Inected with Coster's activities, Fed
eral agents said.
Coster committed suicide when
he was unmaSked as Philip Mu
sica, a convicted Swindler. The
diaries disappeared shortly after
his death but were recovered in a
Woodshed near his estate at Fair
field, Conn.
Gregory F.. Noonan, Chief Assist
ant United States Attorney, will
return today from Washington,
where he took the diaries and two
large packages of correspondence
found in the shed. Brien NC
Mahon, Assistant United States
Attorney General in charge of the
CoSter case, inspected the diaries
at Washington.
MAZE OF BLACKMAIL
The diaries, indicated, according
to Federal agents, that Coster was
blackmailed not only in New
York. but also in other countries.
He paid considerable sums of
money to persons who knew him
when he was Musica, confidence
man. Several of these payments
were sent abroad.
The correspondence found with
the diaries indicated Coster re-
tanned private detectives to probe
into the pastS of men with whom
he was dealing, as we'll as his
blackmailerS and extortioners.
REARRESTED BY DEWEY
Federal agents have been baf-
fled for some time concerning the
identity of "F. Donald Coster, jr."
In the diaries he is identified as
a man not previously mentioned
in the probe and not a member
of the Musica family.
Two MuSica brother, George
and Robert, were released in nom
inal bail by Federal agents yes
terday and at once were seized
by District Attorney Thomas E.
Dewey who had them clapped
back into jail on State charges.
They were sent to Tombs prison
in default of $4,000 and $500
bail, respectively. The third sur
viving brother, Arthur, is still held
in default of $4,000 Federal bail.