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Harvey Epstein

Harvey "Beans" Epstein was a Jewish associate and accountant for the Moretti crime family. He handled Don Carlo Falcone's personal account books and was also a master counterfeiter.

Biography[]

Epstein was born to a Jewish-American family in New York City, New York. He became a professional counterfeiter, printing fake money to use in business dealings, and became an associate of the Moretti crime family working for Carlo Falcone. Since Epstein handled all of Falcone's personal accounts, he was a tremendous liability if he turned against the family, so Falcone assigned bodyguards Antonio Balsamo and Frankie the Mick to look after Epstein at all times. In May 1951, looking to make a move on Falcone's drug dealing rackets, Clemente family Don Alberto Clemente ordered his capo Luca Gurino to kidnap Epstein, Balsamo and Frankie so they would reveal Falcone's stake in narcotics. They were held captive at Clemente's slaughterhouse, and Frankie was tortured to death, but Epstein and Balsamo were rescued by Falcone's underling Vito Scaletta, who, along with Balsamo, engaged in a shootout with Gurino's men and killed them all, before getting to Gurino who locked himself inside an office. Balsamo began torturing Gurino and severely beating him, and he invited Epstein to do the same, with Gurino ultimately being put through a meat grinder.

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