◆ SpookStack

Less Justice / 395 was supervising in North Bergen, New Jersey. I was completely taken in. He was a charming, grandfatherly little man who spoke in a quiet voice of his regrets for the wrongs he had done and his desire to make a little money to pay back the innocent victims of the salad oil caper (though in his opinion that certainly did not include American Express). He was as polite as could be. At this time I didn't know about his connection with the Merkel Meat scandal, so I didn't ask him about it. His pork operation showed every sign of legiti- macy. I saw him bundled up in three sweaters in the cooler room, where he spent his days, patiently and expertly training young immigrant employees in how to quickly strip a bone of its meat without leaving waste: I wrote a rather Hattering article about him on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, indicating that he seemed to have gone straight, and even offering his own unique view of the salad oil case (he blamed the big grain companies and banks for trying to wipe him, the little guy, out; and he said that the nearly $1 billion he reaped was all poured back into-the vegetable oil market as he tried to stay even through declining prices). He wrate me a nice note. A year later, the Agriculture Department, besieged by Tino's creditors, fled a civil suit against his Rex Pork Company and against Paul H. Boiardi, a longtime friend of Tino's from Milton, Pennsylvania, who owned Rex Pork (Iino was unable to kecp any assets in his own name because of outstanding tax judgments against him from the salad oil case). The Agriculture Depart- ment suit said Rex Pork had failed to pay for about $3 million of livestock it had slaughtered and sold. Particularly. hurt were some pork dealers in the Indianapolis area and the National Farmers Organization of Corning, Iowa. They had dealt with Tino, and said-as was clearly the case-that hc was running the operation. Rex Pork and Boiardi consented to a ceasc-and-desist decree, and the National Farmers Organization got a court order to seize a warehouse full of slaughtered pigs. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department was moving to take away inspection services from several companies Tino was requiring inspection." Without inspection stamps, of course, Tino would have heen hard-pressed to sell his meat. He eventually foxed his way out of this jam by voluntarily withdrawing his companies from the program while seeing to it that his plant was covered by the inspection services provided for anotler company of which he was not an officer. While all this was going on in 1975, the Wall Srreet Journal advertising department--which is very conscientious about trying to protect readers from fraudulent sales pitches, though it's fighting an uphill battle-came to the news department with some proposed advertising, which read thus: BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Finish and fatten your own pigs to market weight. We will assist in procure- ment of 50 Ib feeder pigs. All feed requirements. Farmers in Pa, NY corn belt to feed and care for your pigs on custom basis. Hedge pig purchase in future