Crime: The Man Who Fooled Everybody

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The Secret. And what happened to all the money? Trustees for De Angelis' bankrupt companies have some estimates. About $40 million of it moved, quite legally, into the pockets of traders who sold soybean futures to Tino and profited when prices plummeted. Another $60 million went to bankroll the fast growth of his refining empire, cover operating losses and pay interest charges on loans. Countless millions probably stuck to the hands of his friends and cohorts. De Angelis' refinery, real estate and other assets have been sold at bankruptcy auctions for a low $3.5 million; most of these assets have since been bought by Theobold Industries, Inc., whose officers had friendly dealings with De Angelis in the past.

Tino himself drew at least $100,000 a year from Allied, boasts that he munificently gave away perhaps $3,000,000 to pals. Now he claims that he is broke. But the court pried out of him the fact that he had $500,000 in a numbered Swiss bank account; this cache has been turned over to his bankruptcy trustees. How much more Tino may have stashed away is a secret locked in the nimble brain of the fat man who fooled everybody. If he values his freedom highly, he may, under the terms of his sentence, still tell quite a story.