Post by Rab on Mar 5, 2006 10:07:12 GMT -5
[Originally posted on LindyKidnap December 27 2002.]
I have copies of all Hauptmann's bank deposit slips. I will illustrate the points with scans of these as I go. In making reference to coin deposits, please take this to mean non-gold coin. We know Hauptmann deposited gold coin in March 1933 but that is a separate matter.
I am going to address first whether Hauptmann's behaviour was markedly different in terms of deposit slips before and after April 1932. Not because it is necessarily the most important aspect, but because it illustrates the complexity of even this relatively minor angle of the case. So some comments:
- In looking at pre- and post-April 1932, one cannot compare like with like. What coin deposits were made, were made post-April 1932. I have a full set of Hauptmann's deposit slips, going back to 1924. There are no coin deposits whatsoever pre-April 1932. Perhaps this in itself is somewhat indicative. The only coin deposits pre-1932 are two made by Anna: one of 23 cents in 1925 and one of 37 cents in 1926.
- Coin deposits post-April 1932 were to both the Central Savings Bank account and to the Mt Vernon Trust account (which was only opened in June 1932). The larger of the (apparently) coin deposits were to Mt Vernon. It should also be noted that the deposit slips of CSB and Mt Vernon were different.
- The timing of the opening of the Mt Vernon Trust account should not be ignored. This account was subject to a number of relatively small deposits (whether coin or bills I'll come to later) and could be interpreted as the deposit of the change made from laundering activities. Hauptmann opened an account at Manhattan Savings in August 1934 and undertook a very similar albeit shorter pattern of small deposits, though without any coin deposits. At that time, he was laundering the garage money (whether one believes he knew it was ransom money or not in 1934, he clearly knew it was illegal and was laundering it by making small purchases).
So the question seems to come down to whether Hauptmann correctly filled in the various deposit slips. Did he, as he suggested in his testimony, merely sloppily fill in the slip such that he wrote the amount of his bill deposits in the space provided for coin? Before we can answer that, there are some other considerations:
- Are the deposit slips the only record? The account card details for CSB and Mt Vernon (which I also have) don't distinguish between bills and coin. And nothing else was introduced at the trial. But the Genau Report accounting is suggestive of another record (more of which later).
- Are all the deposits coin only? No. All the CSB deposits involving coins are mixed deposits of coins and bills. There are no CSB coin-only deposits. At Mt Vernon there were also a number of mixed deposits.
- Did Hauptmann himself write all the deposit slips? No. On a number of the CSB slips, it appears that the numerals have been written by the teller. I think all the Mt Vernon slips bar one were written by Hauptmann with totals added by the teller and in one case a correction made by the teller.
Let us consider further the question of whether there are additional records beyond the deposit slips. The Mt Vernon account was opened on June 1 1932 with a deposit of $52. The Genau report describes this as $2 specie (a financial term for coin though in the same listing the report also uses the term "coins" for further confusion) and $50 in bills. Here is the deposit slip:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun011932.JPG
Now you will see that in fact the deposit slip seems to have the amounts in reverse: $2 in bills and $50 in coin. And this slip was not written by Hauptmann. This is what makes me suspect that either Genau had access to another information source or he was incorrect. There are two other examples. An August 11 1932 deposit of $84 and August 31 1932 deposit of $40 are shown in the Genau report as bills. However, look at the deposit slips, written by Hauptmann:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug111932.JPG
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug311932.JPG
The amounts are clearly written on the coin line. So it is difficult to know whether one should trust to the Genau report or to the deposit slips. However, the Genau report also lists those items which it recommends should be produced as evidence. In the case of Mt Vernon, the report says (p51/52) that the signature card, the savings account and the deposit slips should be produced. I have copies of all of these and there is no additional information above that on the deposit slips which give any indication of bill/coin breakdown. I believe that if there was another information source, the Genau report would have mentioned it in the evidence section. As it did not, I can only conclude that the report is wrong in this instance and that we should rely on the deposit slips only. I also note that the Genau report misstates some of the deposit slip dates, making me doubt its accuracy further.
So, looking in detail at the Mt Vernon deposits, it's clear that Hauptmann had no problem on most occasions in filling out the deposit slip correctly. Here are some examples:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Mtvernon.JPG
In these instances of both mixed and bill-only deposits, we can see that Hauptmann filled out the slips without problem. So it was certainly not his habit to be sloppy. Neither have I seen even one example from the many CSB deposit slips where he sloppily placed the bill amount in the coins space. Here are some examples, both pre-April 1932:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Pre1932.JPG
And post-April 1932:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Post1932.JPG
Here also are his deposit slips from Manhattan Savings, written in September 1934. No sloppiness about placing the amounts. (As an aside, you might also note the extra large dollar sign placed AFTER the amount on the September 11 deposit).
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Manhattan.JPG
It's my conclusion, therefore, that Hauptmann did not by habit write deposit slips in a sloppy manner and did not place bill amounts in the coin space. Whether filling slips at CSB, Mt Vernon or Manhattan Savings, he was on most occasions tidy and accurate. I don't think the coin deposits can be just explained away in terms of sloppiness because sloppiness of that type is not indicative of his usual behaviour. That is not to say that he might never have done it (as will be seen below) but I don't think he did it habitually. I should also point out that if he was being lazy, he was surely more likely to use the first line or to scrawl over the lines. There are no examples of this, however. All the deposit slips (see below) are tidily within their lines and often the first line is left blank and a coin amount entered below.
So, how many actual coin deposits did Hauptmann make? Let me go though each of the Mt Vernon deposits one by one. First, June 1 1932. This wasn't filled out by Hauptmann. I think this correctly states $50 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun011932.JPG
Next June 14 1932, filled out by Hauptmann (as are all the remainder), $105 in bills:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun141932.JPG
Next June 23 1932, a mixed deposit, including $12 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun231932.JPG
On to July 5 1932, another mixed deposit, seemingly corrected by Hauptmann, showing $13 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jul051932.JPG
Then July 6 1932, showing $12 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jul061932.JPG
Next is August 11 1932, showing $84 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug111932.JPG
Then to August 31 1932, showing $40 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug311932.JPG
On to September 11 1932, an interesting deposit. This is presumably a mixed deposit but the entire amount was written in by Hauptmann on the bills line, rather than broken down. It also seems to have been corrected by the teller as the writing is not Hauptmann's in the coins space or in the total. This is the bill biscussed by Wilentz and Hauptmann during cross-examination. The teller has written "Counterfeit Quarter" beside the amount and made the correction from $260 to $259.75. But what it does indicate is that Hauptmann was making a mixed deposit but filling the slip out as bills. So one must also consider that even where the slips apparently show only bills it is possible that there was some coin element. And perhaps vice versa. Here's the slip:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Sept141932.JPG
Then to September 22 1932, a bills deposit of $200:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Sept221932.JPG
Next is October 17 1932, a coins deposit of $132 (and a check for $30):
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Oct171932.JPG
On to November 28 1932, a bills deposit of $138:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Nov281932.JPG
Then to January 10 1933. This deposit slip has clearly been subject to alteration by - I believe - Hauptmann himself. I think he originally wrote $159 in the bills space, crossed it out and wrote $139 in the coins space. Perhaps he had originally counted the money incorrectly. I do not believe that this is a coin deposit. I think Hauptmann has used the coins space because he made a mistake on the line above. This is shown in Genau as coins:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jan101933.JPG
Next is January 14 1933, a coin deposit of $186, and the largest:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jan141933.JPG
On to February 15 1933, a bills deposit of $230:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Feb151933.JPG
And, finally, $55 in bills on March 3 1933:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Mar031933.JPG
So, in total I make that $529 in coin in 10 months. Let's add in $24 in coin deposited to CSB in the same period for a total of $553. Now, before anyone says "So what, I have more than that in my penny jar at home" we're talking 1932/3 here, when Hauptmann made $100 a month at Majestic. Consulting the Inflation Calculator provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/cpi/), based on the Consumer Price Index, I find that $553 in 2002 terms is $7712. In 10 months. And this is by a guy who it seems never deposited a single coin prior to April 1932.
Hauptmann's explanation of sloppiness is, in isolation, very reasonable and I kept an open mind about this for a long time. But since I have examined the deposit slips themselves, as all can now do, I don't think there can be any doubt that there is clearly something suspicious here and sloppiness is not the answer. There were, I believe, large coin deposits, it was a significant amount and it was a change of behaviour for Hauptmann when compared to pre-April 1932. It is indicative to me of money laundering activities.
I have copies of all Hauptmann's bank deposit slips. I will illustrate the points with scans of these as I go. In making reference to coin deposits, please take this to mean non-gold coin. We know Hauptmann deposited gold coin in March 1933 but that is a separate matter.
I am going to address first whether Hauptmann's behaviour was markedly different in terms of deposit slips before and after April 1932. Not because it is necessarily the most important aspect, but because it illustrates the complexity of even this relatively minor angle of the case. So some comments:
- In looking at pre- and post-April 1932, one cannot compare like with like. What coin deposits were made, were made post-April 1932. I have a full set of Hauptmann's deposit slips, going back to 1924. There are no coin deposits whatsoever pre-April 1932. Perhaps this in itself is somewhat indicative. The only coin deposits pre-1932 are two made by Anna: one of 23 cents in 1925 and one of 37 cents in 1926.
- Coin deposits post-April 1932 were to both the Central Savings Bank account and to the Mt Vernon Trust account (which was only opened in June 1932). The larger of the (apparently) coin deposits were to Mt Vernon. It should also be noted that the deposit slips of CSB and Mt Vernon were different.
- The timing of the opening of the Mt Vernon Trust account should not be ignored. This account was subject to a number of relatively small deposits (whether coin or bills I'll come to later) and could be interpreted as the deposit of the change made from laundering activities. Hauptmann opened an account at Manhattan Savings in August 1934 and undertook a very similar albeit shorter pattern of small deposits, though without any coin deposits. At that time, he was laundering the garage money (whether one believes he knew it was ransom money or not in 1934, he clearly knew it was illegal and was laundering it by making small purchases).
So the question seems to come down to whether Hauptmann correctly filled in the various deposit slips. Did he, as he suggested in his testimony, merely sloppily fill in the slip such that he wrote the amount of his bill deposits in the space provided for coin? Before we can answer that, there are some other considerations:
- Are the deposit slips the only record? The account card details for CSB and Mt Vernon (which I also have) don't distinguish between bills and coin. And nothing else was introduced at the trial. But the Genau Report accounting is suggestive of another record (more of which later).
- Are all the deposits coin only? No. All the CSB deposits involving coins are mixed deposits of coins and bills. There are no CSB coin-only deposits. At Mt Vernon there were also a number of mixed deposits.
- Did Hauptmann himself write all the deposit slips? No. On a number of the CSB slips, it appears that the numerals have been written by the teller. I think all the Mt Vernon slips bar one were written by Hauptmann with totals added by the teller and in one case a correction made by the teller.
Let us consider further the question of whether there are additional records beyond the deposit slips. The Mt Vernon account was opened on June 1 1932 with a deposit of $52. The Genau report describes this as $2 specie (a financial term for coin though in the same listing the report also uses the term "coins" for further confusion) and $50 in bills. Here is the deposit slip:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun011932.JPG
Now you will see that in fact the deposit slip seems to have the amounts in reverse: $2 in bills and $50 in coin. And this slip was not written by Hauptmann. This is what makes me suspect that either Genau had access to another information source or he was incorrect. There are two other examples. An August 11 1932 deposit of $84 and August 31 1932 deposit of $40 are shown in the Genau report as bills. However, look at the deposit slips, written by Hauptmann:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug111932.JPG
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug311932.JPG
The amounts are clearly written on the coin line. So it is difficult to know whether one should trust to the Genau report or to the deposit slips. However, the Genau report also lists those items which it recommends should be produced as evidence. In the case of Mt Vernon, the report says (p51/52) that the signature card, the savings account and the deposit slips should be produced. I have copies of all of these and there is no additional information above that on the deposit slips which give any indication of bill/coin breakdown. I believe that if there was another information source, the Genau report would have mentioned it in the evidence section. As it did not, I can only conclude that the report is wrong in this instance and that we should rely on the deposit slips only. I also note that the Genau report misstates some of the deposit slip dates, making me doubt its accuracy further.
So, looking in detail at the Mt Vernon deposits, it's clear that Hauptmann had no problem on most occasions in filling out the deposit slip correctly. Here are some examples:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Mtvernon.JPG
In these instances of both mixed and bill-only deposits, we can see that Hauptmann filled out the slips without problem. So it was certainly not his habit to be sloppy. Neither have I seen even one example from the many CSB deposit slips where he sloppily placed the bill amount in the coins space. Here are some examples, both pre-April 1932:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Pre1932.JPG
And post-April 1932:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Post1932.JPG
Here also are his deposit slips from Manhattan Savings, written in September 1934. No sloppiness about placing the amounts. (As an aside, you might also note the extra large dollar sign placed AFTER the amount on the September 11 deposit).
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Manhattan.JPG
It's my conclusion, therefore, that Hauptmann did not by habit write deposit slips in a sloppy manner and did not place bill amounts in the coin space. Whether filling slips at CSB, Mt Vernon or Manhattan Savings, he was on most occasions tidy and accurate. I don't think the coin deposits can be just explained away in terms of sloppiness because sloppiness of that type is not indicative of his usual behaviour. That is not to say that he might never have done it (as will be seen below) but I don't think he did it habitually. I should also point out that if he was being lazy, he was surely more likely to use the first line or to scrawl over the lines. There are no examples of this, however. All the deposit slips (see below) are tidily within their lines and often the first line is left blank and a coin amount entered below.
So, how many actual coin deposits did Hauptmann make? Let me go though each of the Mt Vernon deposits one by one. First, June 1 1932. This wasn't filled out by Hauptmann. I think this correctly states $50 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun011932.JPG
Next June 14 1932, filled out by Hauptmann (as are all the remainder), $105 in bills:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun141932.JPG
Next June 23 1932, a mixed deposit, including $12 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jun231932.JPG
On to July 5 1932, another mixed deposit, seemingly corrected by Hauptmann, showing $13 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jul051932.JPG
Then July 6 1932, showing $12 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jul061932.JPG
Next is August 11 1932, showing $84 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug111932.JPG
Then to August 31 1932, showing $40 in coin:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Aug311932.JPG
On to September 11 1932, an interesting deposit. This is presumably a mixed deposit but the entire amount was written in by Hauptmann on the bills line, rather than broken down. It also seems to have been corrected by the teller as the writing is not Hauptmann's in the coins space or in the total. This is the bill biscussed by Wilentz and Hauptmann during cross-examination. The teller has written "Counterfeit Quarter" beside the amount and made the correction from $260 to $259.75. But what it does indicate is that Hauptmann was making a mixed deposit but filling the slip out as bills. So one must also consider that even where the slips apparently show only bills it is possible that there was some coin element. And perhaps vice versa. Here's the slip:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Sept141932.JPG
Then to September 22 1932, a bills deposit of $200:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Sept221932.JPG
Next is October 17 1932, a coins deposit of $132 (and a check for $30):
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Oct171932.JPG
On to November 28 1932, a bills deposit of $138:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Nov281932.JPG
Then to January 10 1933. This deposit slip has clearly been subject to alteration by - I believe - Hauptmann himself. I think he originally wrote $159 in the bills space, crossed it out and wrote $139 in the coins space. Perhaps he had originally counted the money incorrectly. I do not believe that this is a coin deposit. I think Hauptmann has used the coins space because he made a mistake on the line above. This is shown in Genau as coins:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jan101933.JPG
Next is January 14 1933, a coin deposit of $186, and the largest:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Jan141933.JPG
On to February 15 1933, a bills deposit of $230:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Feb151933.JPG
And, finally, $55 in bills on March 3 1933:
homepage.ntlworld.com/foxleywood/Mar031933.JPG
So, in total I make that $529 in coin in 10 months. Let's add in $24 in coin deposited to CSB in the same period for a total of $553. Now, before anyone says "So what, I have more than that in my penny jar at home" we're talking 1932/3 here, when Hauptmann made $100 a month at Majestic. Consulting the Inflation Calculator provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/cpi/), based on the Consumer Price Index, I find that $553 in 2002 terms is $7712. In 10 months. And this is by a guy who it seems never deposited a single coin prior to April 1932.
Hauptmann's explanation of sloppiness is, in isolation, very reasonable and I kept an open mind about this for a long time. But since I have examined the deposit slips themselves, as all can now do, I don't think there can be any doubt that there is clearly something suspicious here and sloppiness is not the answer. There were, I believe, large coin deposits, it was a significant amount and it was a change of behaviour for Hauptmann when compared to pre-April 1932. It is indicative to me of money laundering activities.