Lowell Birrell

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Lowell McAfee Birrell (February 5, 1907 – March 15, 1993) was one of the biggest stock manipulators in the 1950s. He fled the United States to Brazil, but eventually returned and served time in prison for securities fraud.

Biography

Birrell was born in

Presbyterian minister. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1928, and briefly practiced law at the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
.

Through a series of complex transactions involving mergers and stock issuances Birrell gained control of 40 companies, including Claude Neon, United Dye & Chemical Corp., Fidelio Breweries, Swan-Finch Oil Co., Rhode Island Insurance, Equitable Plan, American Leduc Company, and Doeskin Products, Inc. According to the government, he left ten companies in bankruptcy or insolvency.[1] He looted United Dye & Chemical for $2 million, before selling it to Alexander Guterma, another stock manipulator.[2]

In October 1957, Birrell fled to

Securities and Exchange Commission.[12] Attorney Arthur L. Liman, who helped prosecute Birrell, called him the "most notorious stock swindler in the 1950s" and "perhaps the leading wrecker of corporations and deluder of investors in the postwar era."[13]

References

  1. ^ A Master Rogue Unmasked Life magazine July 20, 1959[1]
  2. ^ Roy Cohn: Is He A Liar Under Oath? Life magazine October 4, 1963[2]
  3. ^ Financier Hunted In $14 Million Loss New York Times July 8, 1959[3]
  4. ^ Man Sought in Swindle Now in Rio The Victoria Advocate July 24, 1959[4]
  5. ^ Brokerage Concern and Birrell Indicted in $3,000,000 Fraud New York Times July 21, 1961[5]
  6. ^ Birrell Ends Exile of 7 Years New York Times April 24, 1964[6]
  7. ^ CBS Television. Eyewitness: The Fugitive Financiers July 20, 1962[7]
  8. ^ Birrell Is Released From Prison On Bail After Stay of 15 Months New York Times August 1, 1965[8]
  9. ^ Birrell Is Guilty In Stock Selling New York Times December 29, 1967[9]
  10. ^ Birrell Is Sentenced To Two-Year Term For Fraud in Stocks New York Times July 30, 1970[10]
  11. ^ Birrell Surrenders To Start A 2-Year Term For Fraud New York Times November 12, 1971[11]
  12. ^ Con Artist Hall of Infamy - The Inductees: Lowell Birrell[12]
  13. ISBN 978-1586481773[13]
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