More Fraud Stories © 2024 by Mark McWiggins

The Crazy Eddie Story

Note: I’m indebted to Gary Weiss, whose book Retail Gangster this adaptation comes from.

Eddie had an uncle named Sam who played fast and loose with the tax authorities but took in a probable boatload from his window-trimming business, $10K to $20K at a time, but as Weiss says “he had a tendency to embellish” … years later, a federal judge concluded that Uncle Sam was “hardworking, intelligent and liar”.

Instead of going to any bank, Sam stored large amounts stashed in the ceiling, in file drawers, all over the nooks and crannies of the house.

He also wasn’t bothering with modern-day niceties like payroll taxes.

It turned out that “Uncle Sam” was Eddie’s biological father, never acknowledged in any way.

As Weiss puts it: “It does seem fitting that Eddie Antar’s birth was preceded and then surrounded by secrets and lies, because that was the trajectory of his life from the beginning to the bitter end.”

Eddie was a handsome, hardworking young guy who could scare some punks away from picking on his cousin just by showing up and walking by.

He got his “education” on the street among hustlers and porn operators, with overpriced camera stuff there too. He probably worked for one of his other relatives there.

To be continued …