from: http://www.gopbi.com/news/1999/03/05/malnik2.html ws in partnership with The Palm Beach Post and NEWS 12 Surrounded by crime figures Alvin Malnik has never been convicted of a crime. But government accusations that he was an underworld businessman have dogged him and many of his associates for decades. When the owners of Caesar's World applied to open a New Jersey casino, the state's Casino Control Commission turned down the request, citing the owners' links to Malnik in a lengthy investigative report, issued in 1980 and reinforced 13 years later. In the findings, Lansky figured most prominently among Malnik's alleged mob connections. Described in newspaper headlines as "Chairman of the Board" and the "Financial Wizard of the Underworld," Lansky opened gambling operations in South Florida after World War II and controlled casinos in Cuba and Las Vegas. His notoriety led to his inclusion in The Godfather, Part II. "It was a known fact among the criminal underworld that dealing with Al Malnik was the same as dealing with Meyer Lansky," Vincent Teresa, "a convicted criminal and frequent government witness currently in the federal Witness Protection Program," swore to investigators, according to the New Jersey report. When Lansky died in 1983 at age 81, Reader's Digest named Malnik his "heir apparent." The moniker stuck. In a rare interview Wednesday, at his lakefront estate, Malnik denied mob connections. He said he's done nothing illegal and never worked with Lansky, except as his attorney. "I had, I must say, quite a good reputation," he said, saying the work for his infamous client was probably the result of a referral. The pair met face-to-face just once, by chance, Malnik said. "My representation of a man in some civil matters in the early '60s has been converted by the media into relationships that never existed," he said. "It's the most preposterous, ridiculous, indefensible situation to be in." Some are reluctant to forget it. Even now, gaming officials in Nevada and New Jersey don't want him in their casinos. "He is not welcome here," James Hurley, the chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which regulates the state's gambling industry, said last week. "He's done nothing to overcome his reputation of being closely identified with Meyer Lansky and other organized crime figures." The commission report Short, with a muscular build and a soft voice, Malnik was born in St. Louis in 1933. He married, moved to Florida in the 1950s and graduated from the University of Miami Law School. By the age of 30, he had made a name for himself with federal authorities. Among the details in the 1980 gaming commission report: � In 1962, Malnik was listed as a director of the Bank of World Commerce, a Bahamas-based institution that involved "some of the nations' top gangsters," the report said. "Millions of dollars passed through the door and were reinvested in syndicated controlled projects in the United States." While connected with the bank, Malnik was indicted in Florida on charges of under-reporting his income. He was later acquitted. � In 1964, Malnik organized a company, Scopitone, that produced jukeboxes with attached video screens. Among its stockholders were men police believed to have organized crime ties. They included Irving Kaye, who in 1965 was denied a Nevada gaming license because of his questionable associations, and Vincent "Jimmy Blue Eyes" Alo, who was convicted of obstructing the administration of federal securities laws. � In charges related to Scopitone, Malnik was indicted on charges of tax evasion in 1966 by the U.S. attorney's office in New York. The indictment was dismissed. � In the early 1970s, Malnik invested with Clifford Perlman, chairman of the board of Caesars World, in the Cricket Club, a Miami high-rise with 220 condos. The developer: Cal Kovens, who served three years in prison after being convicted with Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa on fraud and conspiracy charges in 1964. A builder worth millions, Kovens would later chair the board of Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. � In 1971, Malnik and Sam Cohen, who had been indicted with Lansky on charges of "skimming" more than $30 million from the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, bought 325 acres of undeveloped land that belonged to a Dade County country club called Skylake. Malnik ultimately realized a net profit of $14.7 million, according to the report. "The evidence establishes that Mr. Malnik associated with persons engaged in organized criminal activities, and that he himself participated in transactions that were clearly illegitimate and illegal," the gaming commission said in a 1993 reiteration of its earlier findings. The second report resulted from a weekend trip Malnik took in August 1992 with six people to Caesars Atlantic City Hotel and Casino. The Casino Control Commission reprimanded employees of Caesars, where Malnik's party stayed in a complimentary three-bedroom suite, and the Trump Taj Mahal, where Malnik saw a concert by singer Joey Loren. Referring to the commission's earlier determinations, the report said, "The mere passage of time does not, in and of itself, disturb these findings." Almost two decades since the initial investigation, Malnik asked a familiar question Wednesday: "If there was any violation, why wasn't I brought to the bar of justice?" The Florida law Click here for more Copyright � 2000, The Palm Beach Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. 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