◆ SpookStack

George business” War afainst the Ur * States Petroleum Carriers, Inc.. whicb United States says is an Onassig° af +1 outfit. Ari, on the other hand. s* t,o Now then, the United States F@roleum triers, Inc., occupies office space in. of all aces, the 9th floor of 655 Madison Avenue. ew York Citv, which is back-to-back next oor to the Central American Steamship Agency. Onassis’ Manhattan headquarters. And with people running in and out and back and forth between the two offices, the spectator standing in the hall waiting for an elevator could be excused for thinking that. in this case at Jeast, the government may be on the right track. Yet a spokesman for Onassis, while hinting that Ari had an ace up his sleeve and would win out in the Lake George case. blandlv asserted that he had no connection with the Lake George and it was just the damndest of coincidencef’ that the U. 5. Petroleum Carriers, Inc.. hap, pened to be on that same fioor, a thin parti, tion awas from the headquarters of A. sl Onassis. Meanwhile. Ari's brother-inlaw. Niarchos. recentis worked out a package deal with the government in his surplus ships dealings. Agreeing to return nineteen ships, Niarchos also. in compromise of Uncle $am’s claim to profits earned by the ships, promised to pas $4 million in cash. For its part, the govern- ment canceled some $8 million due it in mortgage payments on the vessels. and mdict- ments charging Niarchos and some of his pals with fraud were dismissed. But Ari. who is rumored not to have this kind of cash lying fempre supposedls isn’t keen on such a ompromise in his own case. ORegardiess of what Niarchos did ar did not do. however, Aristotle Onassis insists he is not going to be swased. He didat do ans wrong in the surplus ships ching. he insists. 4t the same time he suggests that he will prove eventually that the government blame well knew he had offered to bus the ships. and even had come io him. way back earls in the deal. and told him to come take the lous. ships off the government's hands, as he had agreed to do. Which. if he can prove it, will enable Ar: to have the Feds over ihe well-known barrel. Even if he is convicted in the surplus shi charge. however. there are many who are d the opinion that Ari isn’t exacth going 4b lose any sleep over the matter. Sure, no otk wants to spend anv time in the hoosegow. especially if vou have several hundred mii- lion bucks in vour account and can afford better accommodations. But. as for the ships. even if they are declared forfeit, Onassis sui figures to land butterside-up. The way that works is this: A tanker which cost mathe $3 million during the war has by now begun to wear out a bit. and the market is shot to hell. too. so that its cur- reat resale value isn’t much more than sav a lite over a million. Since Ari paid oniy $1.600.000 apiece for the ships he bought in 1047, however, and probably stil has each of them mortgaged for approximately $800.- 000, be has had to shell out only h! original investment of some $400,000, plus approxi- mately $600.000 in interest and carrving charges. or roughly a milion bucks out of pocket for each ship since the deal was But, as the economicalls minded have pointed out, sirnpectheeweet income from oper- "The Man Who Bought the Bank at Monte Carlo” TRUE, THE MAN'S MAGAZINE, Dec. 1954, Pg. 85