1. John Factor, born Iakov Faktorowicz and widely known as Jake "The Barber" Factor, was a Prohibition-era gangster and con artist affiliated with the Chicago Outfit.
20 Facts About John Factor
1. 2.
John Factor's father was a rabbi, and he had one sibling, a sister, Dena.
3.
John Factor's family left Poland before the Bolshevik revolution and refused to register for citizenship in Stalin's USSR, thus forfeiting their Russian citizenship and leaving them stateless.
4.
In 1926, John Factor perpetrated a massive stock fraud in England that netted $8 million.
5.
John Factor subsequently fled to Monaco and executed another major scam, rigging the tables at the Monte Carlo Casino and breaking the bank.
6.
John Factor fought extradition all the way to the US Supreme Court, which heard oral argument on April 18,1933.
7.
Some claim that, fearing he would lose the case, John Factor had himself "kidnapped" on June 30,1933.
8.
The FBI believed Jerome's kidnapping was genuine and that the pending extradition made John Factor avoid contact with law enforcement.
9.
Some claim John Factor, working closely with the Chicago Outfit and corrupt local law enforcement, framed local Irish mob boss and Outfit mortal enemy Roger Touhy for the kidnapping.
10.
John Factor sued him, his publisher, his printer and his ghostwriter.
11.
John Factor lost his extradition battle when, on December 4,1933.
12.
John Factor was taken into custody on April 17,1934.
13.
John Factor was convicted of mail fraud in 1942, and served six years of a 10-year sentence.
14.
In 1955, John Factor took over the running of the Stardust Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, allegedly as a front man for the Chicago Outfit.
15.
John Factor sold the hotel for $7 million in either 1962 or 1963.
16.
John Factor was involved in an attempt to bail out Jimmy Hoffa from his real-estate related financial problems.
17.
In late 1962, John Factor was again scheduled to be deported to the United Kingdom but received a presidential pardon.
18.
John Factor became a major contributor to the gubernatorial campaigns of Pat Brown in California.
19.
John Factor lived his later years in Los Angeles, where he made large charitable contributions to enhance the lives of inner city children.
20.
John Factor died from a long, undisclosed illness on January 22,1984, and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.