Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI
The lying. The corruption. The hunger for power. It started in the 1980s.
Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI
The lying. The corruption. The hunger for power. It started in the 1980s.
A Book about Chaos and crime, New York-style
Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI is the true story of Mel Cooper, a financier with an edge who made risky loans to New York businesses. In 1984, Cooper was arrested by then-U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani, along with seven Mafia captains and soldiers from the Gambino, Colombo, Genovese, and DeCavalcante crime families. Giuliani called Cooper the "biggest loanshark in New York City" and the mastermind behind the Mafia's money lending operations. But was it the Mafia behind Mel's loans, or a group of Long Island Rabbis? After receiving a 30-year prison sentence in one of the first RICO "Megatrials," Cooper was accidentally released, and escaped to Florida. Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI captures the freewheeling chaos of 1970s and '80s New York and the mayhem that follows when ambition and flexible ethics meet.
EVENTS & NEWS
For sale in June, 2025
You'll be able to get Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI at Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com and other online platforms as of June 6th, 2025.
Our full website will be online soon with more information, authors' bios, and intriguing extras like audio and video. Join our email list so we can let you know when it's live. We will also be hosting a book launch and readings, so stay in touch.
Reviews
What readers are saying about "Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI"
“Whoever says the justice system works hasn't been in the system. What the system does do is give us the height of drama, insane predicaments, fuel for true-crime entertainment, and larger-than-life characters worthy of Hollywood gangster films. This book has it all."
- Damien Echols, NYT Best Selling Author
“A stunning literary offering.
Wiseguys, Rabbis and the FBI is a true tour de force of a crime story”
– Paul Volponi, multi-award-winning author of Black and White, Rikers High and Hurricane Song.
“A fascinating and fast-paced chase from East New York to Fort Lauderdale to a Midtown apartment overlooking the park, full of greed, precarious freedom, family dramas, wiretaps, and unexpected friendships. The authors nose dive into captivating scenes of Mel Cooper's capers and come up for air with lovely lines like this one describing 1980s' New York as "a city of gold teetering on an abyss."
- Rachel Federman, Author
Contact Us
To reach CHP Works, LLC, Mel Cooper or J.A. Schwartzman, please email us at:
Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI is published by CHP Works, LLC, New York, New York.
