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Rewards
Sept 24, 2016 9:21:00 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 24, 2016 9:21:00 GMT -5
Prior to payment of the reward, Gov. Hoffman discussed the matter with several different Authorities. One person he spoke with was Elmer Irey. The authorities at the Treasury Department believed the reward should only be given to those who did not work in their official capacity:
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Rewards
Sept 25, 2016 9:12:39 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 25, 2016 9:12:39 GMT -5
I've always been astounded that New Jersey could afford the price of this investigation, and trial. The amount was staggering when considering the appropriation just for the trial was $125,000. Remember there was no Sales Tax either (I think with the exception of gasoline). So consider the addition of the $25K reward on top of everything else:
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Rewards
Sept 25, 2016 13:54:26 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2016 13:54:26 GMT -5
Michael,
In Irey's letter, he mentions rewarding certain bank employees. He is clear about not rewarding the Federal Reserve bank employees who were expected, as part of their job responsibilities, to check for the ransom money. I can see the bank employees who identified the $10 dollar bill that Hauptmann passed at the gas station receiving money. This led to Hauptmann's apprehension.
Didn't Lindbergh offer a $2 dollar "bonus" to each bank employee for every Lindbergh ransom bill they identified? Did Lindbergh's offer extend to the Federal Reserve bank employees?
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Rewards
Sept 26, 2016 13:52:15 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 26, 2016 13:52:15 GMT -5
Didn't Lindbergh offer a $2 dollar "bonus" to each bank employee for every Lindbergh ransom bill they identified? Did Lindbergh's offer extend to the Federal Reserve bank employees? Okay, I uploaded a document thinking I knew what you were asking before completely reading it. And so here is what I uploaded, and I will address your actual question once I go to the Ransom Money files to make sure what I write is correct.....
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Rewards
Sept 27, 2016 0:31:39 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2016 0:31:39 GMT -5
Okay, I uploaded a document thinking I knew what you were asking before completely reading it. And so here is what I uploaded, and I will address your actual question once I go to the Ransom Money files to make sure what I write is correct..... Thanks for this document anyway. I thought it interesting that only around 100 bank personnel were identified to receive some reward money. It doesn't sound like very many considering the number of banks in New York. Did Wilentz have any say over who would receive reward money?
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Rewards
Sept 27, 2016 5:33:07 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 27, 2016 5:33:07 GMT -5
Did Wilentz have any say over who would receive reward money? He didn't have any say, however, I believe he could have held it up. You can also see Gov. Hoffman was communicating with him about it and it was during those communications that he compiled a list of claimants and suggested that Condon, Perrone, and Whited be given "serious consideration" despite not having filed a written claim for the reward at the time that list was prepared.
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Rewards
Sept 27, 2016 17:27:37 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 27, 2016 17:27:37 GMT -5
Didn't Lindbergh offer a $2 dollar "bonus" to each bank employee for every Lindbergh ransom bill they identified? Did Lindbergh's offer extend to the Federal Reserve bank employees? It wasn't Lindbergh's offer. The idea came from Wilson but implemented by Schwarzkopf. I can't find the report that states where it's coming from but I think it's NJ. And yes, Federal Reserve Tellers did receive the $2 "bonus" (see report below):
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Rewards
Sept 27, 2016 23:11:06 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2016 23:11:06 GMT -5
He didn't have any say, however, I believe he could have held it up. You can also see Gov. Hoffman was communicating with him about it and it was during those communications that he compiled a list of claimants and suggested that Condon, Perrone, and Whited be given "serious consideration" despite not having filed a written claim for the reward at the time that list was prepared. Interesting. Condon made the short list for reward money? To be clear, is it Wilentz that believes Condon should be considered for reward money? I can hardly see Gov. Hoffman putting Condon's name on a list for reward money. So Perrone did not ask for reward money? More unbelievable is that Whited did not submit something for reward money. Maybe these men felt they didn't need to put anything in writing because they had been assured of receiving reward money earlier if they testified against Hauptmann. So New Jersey had not acted on funding the reward account. I thought when the reward money was offered in 1932, the necessary measures would have been taken at that time to have the money available. Apparently this never happened in 1932 or any other year. By 1936 after all the massive expense of the Lindbergh case and Hauptmann Trial, I am not surprised that there was no money available to appropriate for the reward. Why is the Treasury Department having any input in who should receive reward money? This reward offer was an act of the New Jersey government not the Federal government. I did not realize it was the Federal government's idea that tellers should receive $2 for every ransom bill they discovered. You say that Schwarzkopf took up this idea and implemented it at New Jersey's expense. Did Schwarzkopf have the authority to do this on his own or did he seek approval for this plan from the Governor? Thanks for posting that memorandum.
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Rewards
Sept 28, 2016 5:37:07 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 28, 2016 5:37:07 GMT -5
Right. It was in 1936 at the time of his letter to Hoffman in which he is making this recommendation. The dates are the key to everything since there was no money to hand out at the time. At one time when I was specifically researching the reward I knew all of this stuff but since time has gotten away from me I have to go back and actually re-learn some of the stuff I've forgotten about over the years myself. Whited always claimed he was promised Reward Money. The problem with him is that he was a liar, and changed his story. So how does one pick and choose what to believe? I think my book shows how it can be done. What someone says first before they know the circumstances is revealing. Combine that with other facts which surround the event and the truth seems to rise to the top. In the end, it makes sense he's identifying Hauptmann if he's being promised money. Of course one could make the argument he was just stupid because that was true too, but I don't know how stupidity is a motivating factor to do what was done here except to be duped into believing he was getting a huge portion of the Reward.
The $2 idea was created after a lull in Ransom Money discovery. Police believed people were getting tired of looking so Wilson came up with this plan to incentivize the search. It could be that the Treasury was paying it, because it seems initially Wilson is paying the Tellers. I know I have the answer in the files. But if it was coming from NJ then Schwarzkopf would have needed to go through Gov. Moore before implementation.
Right again. Since the money was offered but never appropriated then it wasn't available. Gov. Hoffman reached out to the Treasury Department for their input. In the end he made the final decision about who got what. I recall there were some Legal people saying Allen didn't qualify and that the Governor was wrong to give him any but that's coming from memory and I'd have to look that up too.
There's a lot of interesting information to learn about. Just look at this one little topic and we could go on for months and months.
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Rewards
Sept 28, 2016 16:16:05 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 28, 2016 16:16:05 GMT -5
This, according to Frank Wilson, should clear up where the $2 was coming from: I suggested that the search could be pepped up if we had an appropriation which could be used to pay a reward of from one to five dollars to each bank clerk finding a bill. The New Jersey State Police had no funds which could be used for that purpose and this Department had no appropriation that could be used. Colonel Lindbergh handed me his personal check for $100.00 to use for taht purpose and it was decided to pay the sum of $2.00 to each cleark finding a bill until the $100.00 was exhausted. So my memory failed me on this one and you were right Amy.
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Rewards
Sept 28, 2016 17:43:23 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 28, 2016 17:43:23 GMT -5
So here's the 2nd part of this which might explain why I was remembering what I was: ....I submitted to Colonel Schwarzkopf and Inspector Lyons of the New York Police Department a proposed plan to place one hundred thousand circulars in retail establishments in New York City agreeing to reward the finder of the first one hundred bills $10.00 each, and the second one hundred bills $5.00 each. The plan was approved and the New York Police Department secured an appropriation for the $1500.00 necessary in the event that two hundred bills were found. Here is a copy of the original plan that Wilson wrote out outlining everything:
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Rewards
Sept 28, 2016 22:37:01 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 22:37:01 GMT -5
This, according to Frank Wilson, should clear up where the $2 was coming from: I suggested that the search could be pepped up if we had an appropriation which could be used to pay a reward of from one to five dollars to each bank clerk finding a bill. The New Jersey State Police had no funds which could be used for that purpose and this Department had no appropriation that could be used. Colonel Lindbergh handed me his personal check for $100.00 to use for taht purpose and it was decided to pay the sum of $2.00 to each cleark finding a bill until the $100.00 was exhausted. Thanks for finding this Michael! So now I am wondering did this incentive idea die once Lindbergh's $100 dollars ran out (if it did) or did he put up more money to keep this going? Did they see an immediate increase in the amount of ransom money being discovered by the banks?
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Rewards
Sept 28, 2016 23:02:24 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2016 23:02:24 GMT -5
So here's the 2nd part of this which might explain why I was remembering what I was: ....I submitted to Colonel Schwarzkopf and Inspector Lyons of the New York Police Department a proposed plan to place one hundred thousand circulars in retail establishments in New York City agreeing to reward the finder of the first one hundred bills $10.00 each, and the second one hundred bills $5.00 each. The plan was approved and the New York Police Department secured an appropriation for the $1500.00 necessary in the event that two hundred bills were found. Wow!! This is really an aggressive plan. Did this ever go into effect? I don't recall reading about this anywhere. What year was this proposed? When I read this a couple of things stood out. 1) This reward was only being applied to the bill series mentioned on this circular. 2) They were looking for the $20 dollar Federal Reserve notes and the $5.00 United States notes only. 3) They do not include the gold certificate notes. Any ideas why they targeted certain ransom note denominations for this reward program?
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Rewards
Sept 30, 2016 18:17:53 GMT -5
Post by Michael on Sept 30, 2016 18:17:53 GMT -5
Wow!! This is really an aggressive plan. Did this ever go into effect? I don't recall reading about this anywhere. What year was this proposed? I haven't checked the FBI Summary but I am guessing this isn't mentioned in there? Yes, it did go into effect at the very end of April 1933. 1) This reward was only being applied to the bill series mentioned on this circular. Yes. 2) They were looking for the $20 dollar Federal Reserve notes and the $5.00 United States notes only. Yes. 3) They do not include the gold certificate notes. Exactly. Any ideas why they targeted certain ransom note denominations for this reward program? According to Wilson: If the guilty person attempts to pass the gold certificates after May 1st, it is believed that the gold certificates may be easily located by the banks as very few will then be in circulation. It is therefore considered that efforts to locate the gold certificates are being given good consideration. Assuming that the guilty persons recognize the fact that they are taking desperate chances in passing gold certificates after May 1st, it is thought that they may attempt to use the United States notes and the federal reserve notes. In order to facilitate the future search for these bills, it is suggested that we make some plans to extend the search to retail stores and other places where we feel the guilty persons may attempt to pass the currency. As the only bills found so far were located in New York City and suburbs, it is fair to assume that this is the best field to cover in the future search. It is suggested that 100,000 circulars or some otehr number to be determined, be placed in retail stores, gasoline station, etc. in and around New York, requesting that in order to assure careful and continued search, a reward be offered to person locating the desired bills.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 8:27:36 GMT -5
I haven't checked the FBI Summary but I am guessing this isn't mentioned in there? Yes, it did go into effect at the very end of April 1933. So, I did a quick check of the FBI Summary and they actually do mention this reward letter in the FBI Chronology (pages 63 & 64 in my paperback copy): "May 1, 1933 - 30,000 circulars containing list of serial numbers of ransom bills offering rewards for locating the bills issued to police department, New York City, and distributed to banks and certain chain rental establishments, the latter with gold certificates omitted. Newspapers requested to refrain from publicity in connection with search for ransom.There is also another entry in this chronology of a letter issued before the above mentioned entry directly to the banking institutions concerning the gold certificate ransom notes (page 62): April 14, 1933 - Circular letter issued to banking institutions by Treasury Department requesting careful search of gold certificates surrendered in accordance with Presidential order.When you put these two entries together then it fits with what you quoted Agent Wilson saying. It appears to me that the banks were being relied on the most to catch the gold certs while other types of exchanges were being relied on to catch the non gold certificates once America was off the gold standard. It shows the Treasury Department was making a concerted effort to recover as much ransom money as they could and hopefully, catch a kidnapper(s) in the process. Thanks for posting the police document!
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Rewards
Feb 16, 2017 9:46:41 GMT -5
Post by wolfman666 on Feb 16, 2017 9:46:41 GMT -5
I think Koehler put in for the reward money and was denied. mike can clear that up
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geld
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Post by geld on Feb 18, 2017 15:17:39 GMT -5
Here is a little FUN thought that has been keeping me up at night. Where is the missing $20?? J.J. Faulkner exchanged $2980 of GC for "green Backs" such an odd number, why not $3000?
P.S. James Estey was a lousy clerk!!
I didn't know what slot to post this in.
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Rewards
Feb 19, 2017 14:51:54 GMT -5
Post by hurtelable on Feb 19, 2017 14:51:54 GMT -5
Here is a little FUN thought that has been keeping me up at night. Where is the missing $20?? J.J. Faulkner exchanged $2980 of GC for "green Backs" such an odd number, why not $3000? P.S. James Estey was a lousy clerk!! I didn't know what slot to post this in. The sheer numerical value of the "J. J. Faulkner" deposit of ransom bills, being $20 short of $3,000, is of no particular significance, unless maybe you are into numerology. The important part of this transaction, if you are interested in getting to the bottom of the LKC, is J. J. Faulkner's true identity. I for one believe that "J. J. Faulkner" was Jacob Nosovitsky, as detailed in Noel Behn's book, Lindbergh: The Crime. According to Behn, NYPD records reveal that "J. J. Faulkner" was one of Nosovitsky's many aliases.
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