Havana Conference

The Havana Conference was a meeting of all the major figures of U.S. organized crime, held during the week of 22 December, 1946 at the Hotel Nacional in Havana, Cuba. Decisions made at the conference would have a notable bearing on American organized criminal activity in the ensuing decades.

The Siegel Situation

The next item up for business was what Lansky called the "Siegel Situation". Bugsy Siegel had been purposely excluded from the Havana proceedings, chiefly because he would be one of the main topics discussed. Sent to Los Angeles in the mid-1930s to set up the Syndicate's activities there, Siegel became popular in Hollywood circles. He became enamoured with the idea of constructing a casino in Las Vegas, and convinced Lansky and the New York City mob to finance the project. However, due to either mistakes or dishonesty by Bugsy, the price rose from $1.5 million to $6 million.

Related Topics:
Bugsy Siegel - Los Angeles - 1930s - Hollywood - Las Vegas - New York City

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Lansky stated that he had information that Siegel's girlfriend, Virginia Hill, was depositing money in a bank account in Zurich, Switzerland and that he had reason to believe Siegel himself would skim money from the project and possibly even leave the U.S. if his casino, the Flamingo, failed. Following a vote in which non-Italian gangsters did not participate, it was decided that Bugsy would be killed, and the contract went to Chicago's Charlie Fischetti to be carried out by Jack Dragna, the Los Angeles boss. Lansky convinced the other delegates that they should wait until the Flamingo opened on Boxing Day to see how the casino fared. The gangsters then took a break for Christmas.

Related Topics:
Virginia Hill - Zurich, Switzerland - Charlie Fischetti - Jack Dragna - Boxing Day

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On 26 December, word reached the assembled hoods in Havana that the Flamingo had flopped. The enraged mobsters demanded Siegel's head on a platter, but Lansky once again convinced them that Bugsy could save the casino. Following a closure for repairs, the Flamingo reopened a few months later. It soon began churning out a profit, but Siegel was still assassinated in Hill's Beverly Hills mansion by a rifle-wielding hitman on 20 June, 1947.

Related Topics:
26 December - Beverly Hills - 20 June - 1947

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