Wikipedia

Marvin Elkind

Marvin Elkind (13 March 1934-21 January 2024), better known as "The Weasel", was a Canadian gangster, boxer and police informer.

Criminal

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Elkind was born in Toronto, the son of poor Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.[1] Elkind suffered from dyslexia and ADHD, which caused him to placed "in care" in foster homes in the Toronto area from the age of 9 onward.[1] Elkind came to associate with the criminal elements that he met while "in care" and served as a petty crook for organized crime figures in Toronto and elsewhere.[1]

Starting in 1952, Elkind worked as a chauffer for the notoriously corrupt union boss Jimmy Hoffa for four years.[2] Elkind was assigned by the gangster Anthony Salerno to work as Hoffa's chauffer under the grounds that as a Canadian he would not drafted as Hoffa's previous chauffer had been.[3] Elkind stated in 2008: "Mr. Hoffa was a tremendously intimidating man. This man had no fear at all, of nothing, showed very little emotion, had completely no sense of humour, and was dedicated to the people that belonged to his union. When you drive these people you learn a lot and I’ll tell you why. They don’t know you’re there. You become a piece of the car, just like an extra gear shift or a brake, and they talk."[3] Elkind also worked as a boxer, which caused him to suffer brain damage later in life.[2]

Upon his return to Canada in 1956, Elkind went to Montreal where he served as the chauffer and bodyguard to the gangster Vic Cotroni.[4] Elkind described Cotroni as extremely well connected as he drove him to meet numerous politicians, businessmen, union leaders, and policemen.[4] Elkind also worked as a chauffer and bodyguard to William Obront who he sold tainted meat for Cotroni.[5] Elkind stated that both Cotroni and Obront had absolutely no concern that people were getting sick and sometimes dying from the tainted meat that Obront sold.[5] Elkind also worked as a chauffer for the boxer Mohammad Ali when he boxed in Toronto.[6] Elkind first met Ali in 1965 when he went to New York with George Chuvalo to watch him fight Floyd Patterson.[7] Elkind was a long-standing friend of the Canadian boxing champion Chuvalo.[8] On 2 February 1965 in a boxing match at Madison Square Gardens, Ali beat Chauvalo by decisio of the judges.[9] During his trip to New York, Elkind used his Teamsters connections acquired from working for Hoffa to get Ali a room in a prestigious hotel, and as thanks Ali promised that Elkind would work as his chauffer whenever he visited Toronto.[8] During a rematch between Chuvalo and Ali in Toronto at the Maple Leaf Gardens in 1966, Ali stayed at the Lord Simcoe Hotel and Elkind served as his chauffer.[9] Elkind said of Ali in 2011: "He's a great human being, great fighter, great person. I really like him".[10] As Ali became one of the most famous and controversial man in the world in the 1960s, Elkind came to enjoy a certain power in Canada as the only Canadian capable of arranging for Ali to speak at social events.[10]

Besides for being a gangster, Elkind was involved with the Toronto chapter of the Jewish Defense League, and in this way he served as the chauffer for the former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir when she visited Toronto on 17 December 1974.[11] The visit of Meir to Toronto attracted protests from pro-Palestinian elements, and Elkind discovered that driving Meir around Toronto was difficult.[12]

Informer

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Feeling that he was being disrespected by the crime bosses he served as he never received a promotion, in 1983 Elkind went to work as an informer for the Ontario Provincial Police.[1] Elkind's hander for the next 10 years was Al Robinson.[1] As Agent 0030, Elkind became the most successful informer in Canadian history.[1] Elkind was highly unusual in that he worked as an informer for 10 years without being exposed.[1] The journalist Adrien Humphreys wrote: "Marvin helped cops corral cartel members in Mexico, Libyan terrorists, drug traffickers in New York, mobsters in Detroit, coup plotters in Ghana, stock swindlers in Amsterdam, corrupt politicians, outlaw bikers, killers, sexual predators and a full inventory of criminals in cities across Canada."[1]

In 1983-1984, Elkind went undercover with the Hamiltion Mafia boss, Johnny Papalia to expose his mortgage scams.[2] In 2011, Elkind told Humphreys about Papalia: "I hated that son of a bitch. He was evil to an extreme."[2] At one point, Elkind thought he was going to be exposed as Papalia reached for what appeared to be his belt, which he had hidden the wire, but instead was reaching for a piece of paper.[13] Elkind never recorded Papalia as saying anything that could be used to indict for a scam to defraud investors of millions as Papalia planned to sell buildings in Hamilton that he did not own, but he did collect evidence to put a stop to Papalia's scheme.[13] In 1985-1986, Elkind stopped the schemes of a Libyan terrorist Muftah El-Abbar living in Toronto to commit terrorist attacks in Canada and the United States.[13] In 2011, Elkind said of the El-Abbar case: "That’s the one thing I am most proud of".[13]

Elkind served as one of the emotional supports for Chuvalo after his heroin-addicted son Jesse committed suicide in 1985.[14] Two of Chuvalo's other sons were also heroin addicts and both died of heroin overdoses with George Jr. being dead in a shady Toronto hotel in 1993 and Steven Chuvalo dying of a heroin overdose in 1996.[14] Chuvalo set himself as an anti-drug crusader who spoke to high school students about the problems of substance abuse.[14] As Chuvalo is a controversial man in Canada, Elkind had the task of persuading high school principles to allow Chuvalo to speak to students.[14]

On 14 September 1987, Elkind met a Toronto businessman Nicholas Andreko at the Wheat Sheaf Tavern who told him he was going to finance a coup to topple Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, the president of Ghana, and was looking to meet some arms dealers.[15] Elkind arranged for Andreko to meet Robinson who donned his usual alter-ego of "Colonel Gibson".[16] Another OPP officer, Constable John Celentino, was brought in to portray another arms dealer.[16] On 5 November 1987 at a posh hotel in Toronto, Elkind introduced Andreko to "Colonel Gibson" and Celention who posed as a shady arms dealers who were willing to sell him a stockpile of AK-47 assault rifles plus ammunition.[17] As the guns were going to be smuggled into Côte d'Ivoire via the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was brought into the case.[18] On 9 January 1988 in a hotel in Detroit, Elkind introduced Andreko and Sam O'Dame of the Ghana Democratic Movement to Robinson and Celentino.[19] Andreko and O'Dame talked quite openly about their plans to assassinate Rawlings as part of their plans for a coup.[20] On 28 February 1988, Elkind met another conspirator, Dr. Edward Mahama, who represented the leader of the plot, a former finance minister in Rawlings's government who was living in exile after a failed coup attempt in 1981.[21] In May 1988, Elkind met with the plotters, where it was revealed that Andreko was expecting control of Ghana's rich gold mines as his reward for his part in financing the coup.[22] Andreko revealed himself to be a member of a consortium of wealthy businessmen who wanted control of the economy of Ghana as it was noted that Ghana was was a leading gold producer, the world's second largest producer of cacao, and was rich in oil, timber and diamonds.[23] As Ghana was a fellow member of the Commonwealth, the coup plot, which was based partly in Toronto, was especially concerning to Joe Clark, the External Affairs Minister, who was briefed by Robinson personally on the case.[24] The government of Canada informed the government of Ghana about the plot in September 1988, which put an end to the planned coup.[25]

The "Peanut Butter Murder plot"

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Starting with the Gulf War of 1991, Elkind worked as a security guard at his synagogue in Toronto as the Gulf War caused an upsurge of anti-Semitism in Canada, and the former boxer Elkind volunteered to serve as a security guard during the Saturday prayers.[26] After being exposed as an informer in 1993, Elkind ceased his undercover work.[1] Robinson warned both Carmen Barillaro and the Commisso brothers not to kill Elkind.[1] The gangster Eddie Melo was so enraged when he learned Elkind was an informer that he tried to beat him up in front of the St. Lawrence Market and Elkind was only saved when Mitchell Chuvalo, the son of the boxer George Chuvalo, came to his aid.[27]

In 1998, a wealthy businessman, Jack Tully, who prayed at the synagogue where Elkind served as a security guard at, approached him with an offer to hire him to kill his son-in-law.[28] Tully was angry that his son-in-law, Martin Fisher, was not permitting him to see his daughter or his two grandchildren, and told Elkind that he would pay him a substantial sum of money if he could get Fisher drunk and to drive home, believing he would be killed in an accident.[28] Elkind refused the offer under the grounds that Fisher might kill others while driving drunk.[28] Tully then told Elkind that Fisher was severely allaric to peanut butter, and he would pay him a thousand dollars to kill Fisher by getting him to drink alcohol laced with peanut oil or eat food laced with peanut butter.[29] Elkind contacted the York Regional Police about the murder plot and while wearing a wire on 2 September 1998 recorded Tully talking about the plan to kill Fisher via peanut butter and provided him with the murder weapons, namely a bottle of peanut oil and a jar of peanut butter, which led to Tully's arrest.[29] In January 2001, Tully went on trial in Toronto and Elkind served as the star witness for the Crown.[30] The bizarre nature of the murder plot made the trial into a media sensation in Toronto.[30] As the trial progressed and it became apparent that the Crown had an overwhelming case against him, Tully made a plea bargain with the Crown where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in exchange for a lighter prison sentence.[31] The murder plot served as the basis for the 2004 comedy film Zeyda and the Hitman where Elkind was played by Danny Aiello.

Retirement

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In 2011, Elkind said of his criminal career: "The Mob life is living with a lot of bad guys, and you’re not sure sometimes who are your friends and who aren’t...If there was a way I could turn the clock back 68 years...I would do it completely different. Am I satisfied with the way I lived my life? One hundred per cent no'.[2] Of his work as an informer, Elkind said: "“I’ll tell you what makes a good informant, and I am giving it to you straight, kid. You have to be a guy that isn’t high level in any one mob, and works in several; a guy that is dissatisfied, feels he never rose as high as he should have and doesn’t have strong loyalties and is embittered. And you have to have steel balls and no brains, and I got them both".[13] The journalist James Dubro said of Elkind: "He was a charismatic speaker and interview subject with a quintessential mobster voice. I’m amazed he was never killed. He did betray many gangsters and even testified in court against them".[2] In his last years, Elkind frequently appeared in television documentaries about organized crime where he became famed as a raconteur.[2] Elkind died of natural causes in Mississauga in 2024.[6]

Books

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  • Humphreys, Adrian (2011). The Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0470964510.
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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Humphreys, Adrian (25 January 2024). "Chauffeur to mobsters, friend to Muhammad Ali, and Canada's most prolific police informant: Marvin 'The Weasel' Elkind dead at 89". The National Post. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Hunter, Brad (24 January 2024). "Famed GTA underworld raconteur Marvin 'The Weasel' Elkind dead at 89". The Toronto Sun. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b Talbot, Michael (30 July 2008). "Character Toronto: Jimmy Hoffa's driver and underworld figure Marvin 'The Weasel' Elkind". City-TV. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b Humphreys 2011, p. 68-69.
  5. ^ a b Humphreys 2011, p. 70.
  6. ^ a b Pecar, Steven (23 January 2024). "Driver for Jimmy Hoffa, Marvin 'The Weasel' Elkind has died". Insauga. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  7. ^ Linder, Doveed (June 6 2016). "Exclusive Interview: Marvin Elkind". Boxing Talk. Retrieved 20 July 2024. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b Hannigan, Dave (December 12 2017). "The tragic tale of George Chuvalo – Muhammad Ali's toughest opponent". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 July 2024. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b Humphreys 2011, p. 270.
  10. ^ a b Humphreys 2011, p. 276.
  11. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 271.
  12. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 271-272.
  13. ^ a b c d e O'Connor, Joe (4 November 2011). "Marvin Elkind's mob buddies didn't know he was a police informant". The National Post. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d Humphreys 2011, p. 275.
  15. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 260.
  16. ^ a b Humphreys 2011, p. 261.
  17. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 261-252.
  18. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 263-264.
  19. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 264.
  20. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 264-265.
  21. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 265.
  22. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 266.
  23. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 266-267.
  24. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 267.
  25. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 267-268.
  26. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 384.
  27. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 353.
  28. ^ a b c Humphreys 2011, p. 385.
  29. ^ a b Humphreys 2011, p. 386.
  30. ^ a b Humphreys 2011, p. 387.
  31. ^ Humphreys 2011, p. 388.
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