MORE REVELATIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23226, 21 December 1938, Page 13

MORE REVELATIONS

CAREER OF SWINDLER RUM AND ARMS RUNNING A FANTASTIC FUNERAL NEW YORK, Dec. 19 Even in death.as fantastic as in life, Philip Musica, alias Coster, tho swindler who committed suicide when under indictment, was buried in a solid silver coffin banked by thousands of dollars' worth of the most exotic flowers. The mourners, however, numbered n scant dozen, chief of whom were tho three indicted brothers and relatives of deceased and his wife. The continuous stream of revelations of Coster's activities, backed up by Government experts' investigations, almost surpasses belief. An official of McKesson and liobbins, the drug firm to which Coster belonged, frankly admitted that he was the largest withdrawer of alcohol before and after prohibition, and his rum-running activities exceeded A 1 Capone's. *■ A witness said that "big shots" in Wall Street and the underworld were involved with Coster in the illegal alcohol business, the ramifications of which are expected to disclose a wide net of prominent people, all of whom made fabulous profits from it. The arms running business appears to have been even more serious, officials declaring that it involved widespread violations of the neutrality laws, and was likely to incriminate many other individuals. Coster obtained control of an arsenal owned by the United States Government in Canada since the war, from which ho arranged to deliver 2,000,000 Lee Enfield rifles" to a British port for the account of an alleged British jjetroleum company. Canadian authorities also are now investigating an alleged sale by Coster of five aeroplanes to Turkey, designed ultimately for Spain.