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Mr Sin: The Abe Saffron Dossier
Abe Saffron was one of Australia's most notorious and powerful crime figures. Yet, he spent his life denying any involvement in criminal activity, claiming he was just a successful businessman. Sydney knew otherwise. This was the man who controlled the city's underworld with an iron fist.Tony Reeves has been gathering information on Abe Saffron for over forty years. With Saffron's death in September 2006, he can finally and safely reveal all. And what a story it is. Saffron trafficked in drugs, ran prostitution and gambling rings, was not averse to extreme violence and was a master of bribery and a corrupter of police, politicians and the judiciary. The man with a voracious sexual appetite was a real-life Godfather of Australian crime. Mr Sin makes for shocking and disturbing reading. It reveals the heart of a vicious world of greed and evil and leaves no doubt that Abe Saffron well and truly deserved the moniker, Mr Sin.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
328 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 4, 2018
A part of my innocence died after reading this book. Literally died, I'll never be the same person again.
It's utterly shocking how corrupt NSW and even Federal institutions of government, the judiciary, police, and business became under Abraham Saffron's pernicious influence from the 1950's-1980's.
A Jewish gangster and pimp, Abe Saffron offered free services to high society through his female staff, gratis. What people didn't know was that by covertly filming and meticulously documenting these events, he blackmailed countless important officials to turn a blind eye to his illegal businesses.
But he was far worse than this. Innocent, upright individuals simply wanting to do the right thing were also targeted. His accountant who handed evidence of his tax avoidance was framed by the police for an armed holdup he didn't commit and was imprisoned for four years. Another person accessing his grubby material was imprisoned by 20 years for a minor crime because the judge just happened to be Saffron's uncle Justice Simon Isaacs.
Here's a final viegnette of his character: in one of Abe's Kings Cross clubs, young couples from out of town would sometimes visit a show. His staff would sit them in the back corner of the room and spike their drink. As the male dozed off, his partner would be dragged to a back room and be violated by male staff. When they had finished with her they'd carry her back to the table and strew the table with empty beer bottles. As the couple groggily returned to consciousness the staff would have the temerity to charge them for the drinks. A former staff member confides "who knows how many women got pregnant this way". When Abe found out about it he'd simply say "boys will be boys". And this is just the behaviour of his staff; his own life was more odious than this.
Somebody absolutely must make a movie or mini-series about this "scum. The world is better off without him", to quote one journalist's obituary of him. At his funeral, the Rabbi at the synagogue lauded him as a colourful, fun character.
It's utterly shocking how corrupt NSW and even Federal institutions of government, the judiciary, police, and business became under Abraham Saffron's pernicious influence from the 1950's-1980's.
A Jewish gangster and pimp, Abe Saffron offered free services to high society through his female staff, gratis. What people didn't know was that by covertly filming and meticulously documenting these events, he blackmailed countless important officials to turn a blind eye to his illegal businesses.
But he was far worse than this. Innocent, upright individuals simply wanting to do the right thing were also targeted. His accountant who handed evidence of his tax avoidance was framed by the police for an armed holdup he didn't commit and was imprisoned for four years. Another person accessing his grubby material was imprisoned by 20 years for a minor crime because the judge just happened to be Saffron's uncle Justice Simon Isaacs.
Here's a final viegnette of his character: in one of Abe's Kings Cross clubs, young couples from out of town would sometimes visit a show. His staff would sit them in the back corner of the room and spike their drink. As the male dozed off, his partner would be dragged to a back room and be violated by male staff. When they had finished with her they'd carry her back to the table and strew the table with empty beer bottles. As the couple groggily returned to consciousness the staff would have the temerity to charge them for the drinks. A former staff member confides "who knows how many women got pregnant this way". When Abe found out about it he'd simply say "boys will be boys". And this is just the behaviour of his staff; his own life was more odious than this.
Somebody absolutely must make a movie or mini-series about this "scum. The world is better off without him", to quote one journalist's obituary of him. At his funeral, the Rabbi at the synagogue lauded him as a colourful, fun character.
July 2, 2008
The most fascinating part of MR SIN is not the corruption. It is the extent of it and how blatant it was. Many involved made little or no effort to cover up the fact they were taking payments from Saffron and his enterprise.
Saffron's strange obsession with defending his "good name" in the courts is also explored.
Reeves isn't afraid to name names either. Some of Australia's best known identities are named in the book; Sir Peter Abeles, Sir Frank Packer, former Attorney General, Lionel Murphy and of course former Premier of New South Wales Robert Askin.
I did find the quotes from various court cases to be extremely dry reading. The rest of the book is a fascinating expose of just how corrupt things were in New South Wales for several decades.
Saffron's strange obsession with defending his "good name" in the courts is also explored.
Reeves isn't afraid to name names either. Some of Australia's best known identities are named in the book; Sir Peter Abeles, Sir Frank Packer, former Attorney General, Lionel Murphy and of course former Premier of New South Wales Robert Askin.
I did find the quotes from various court cases to be extremely dry reading. The rest of the book is a fascinating expose of just how corrupt things were in New South Wales for several decades.
June 15, 2013
Did not live up to my expectations of Abe's life story. Maybe I expected too much but this book was very dry in places and while I appreciate facts just like the next person it lacked personality :( or at the least failed to deliver in respect of representing Abe's as well as I believe it could have
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews