Gilded Lily (39 page)

“It was the day after her husband's funeral
”: Rosy Fanto, interview by author, July 27, 2006.

But like so many others who questioned
: Maria Consuelo Ayres, interview by author, August 27, 2006; Rosy Fanto, interview by author, August 10, 2006; Masha Monterosa, interview by author, November 7, 2006.

But as the investigating lawyers would find
: Letter to Dr. Alfredo Lamy Filho from investigators, signature indecipherable. March 18, 1970.

“Although the initial police report”
: Report by medical examiner Alexandrino Silva Ramos Filho, March 16, 1970.

FOUR
: “
EDMOND SAID HE WOULD FIX EVERYTHING
”

“Every Jew had money outside the country”
: Marcelo Steinfeld, interview by author, October 17, 2007.

“For years
,
Fred was Edmond Safra's biggest account”
: Maria Luisa Goldschmid, interview by author, October 25, 2007. Goldschmid and Maria Consuelo Ayres both said that Edmond Safra's brothers were frequently at the Ponto Frio offices in Rio de Janeiro.

Their friend Albert Nasser
: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.

“We all thought that when Fred died”
: Ruth Almeida Prado, interview by author, April 30, 2006.

“My son died on August 25
,
1969”
: Regina Rebecca Monteverde's affidavit dated 1971, court documents, 1971 F. No. 2064, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division.

“but in the manner that a railway baron”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 2, 2007.

Lily was careful not to declare
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007; Willard Zucker to G. C. Sutton, 13 December 1971, re: Mrs. L. Monteverde.

“She wasn't exactly an intellectual
”: Rosy Fanto, interview by author, July 27, 2006.

In rare interviews
: “The Mystery Man of Finance,”
BusinessWeek
, March 7, 1994. “Collector of Banks is Going Public,”
New York Times
, September 27, 1972.

“You need honesty and hard work
”: In “Safra, um banqueiro de 4,2 bilhões de dolares de ativo,”
Jornal do Brasil
. Translated from the Portuguese by the author, May, 14, 1978.

“That is what my father taught me”
: “The Mystery Man of Finance,”
BusinessWeek
, March 7, 1994.

he convinced his father's chauffeur
: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.

“Edmond
,
you are going to grow up
”: Albert Nasser, ibid.

Years later, Madame Tarrab
: Albert Nasser, ibid.

“Sephardic assimilation was slowed”
: Daniel J. Elazar,
The Other Jews
:
The Sephardim Today
(Basic Books, 1992), p. 146.

“
If they ask you”
: Bryan Burrough,
Vendetta
:
American Express and the Smearing of Edmond Safra
(Harper Collins, 1993), p. 35.

“I'm in no hurry”
: “The Mystery Man of Finance,”
BusinessWeek
, March 7, 1994.

The Safras moved to Rio de Janeiro
: Edmond Safra, application for Brazilian citizenship (1954 to 1957), National Archives, Rio de Janeiro.

There were also so-called hold-mail accounts
: Burrough, p. 43.

“He went there to buy a hat”
: “The Mystery Man of Finance,”
BusinessWeek
, March 7, 1994.

Charles Knox initially established the hat company
: Landmarks Preservation Commission, New York, September 23, 1980, Designation List 137, LP1091.

“He knew more about the history”
: Eli Attia, interview by author, January 6, 2009.

So
,
at the bank's grand opening
: “Kennedy Cuts Ribbon at a New Bank on Fifth Avenue,”
New York Times
, January 25, 1966.

“If someone brings a friend”
: “A TV spectacular sets off a ‘run' on New York bank,”
Wall Street Journal
, April 12, 1973.

But attracting new depositors
: Burrough, p. 50.

“I'm now competing with the big boys”
: “Collector of Banks is Going Public,”
New York Times
, September 27, 1972.

“Who is that beautiful woman?”
: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.

“The relationship between the bank and the first-named defendant”
: Rosy Fanto's affidavit dated October 6, 1971, court papers, 1971 F. No 2064, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division. All subsequent information pertaining to the London legal case is quoted from the court transcripts.

Alfredo was
,
at various times
,
put on a combination
: Dr. Giacomo Landau, affidavit dated June 6, 1971.

demanding the guardianship of Carlos Monteverde
: All information from the legal battle over the adoption of Carlos Monteverde by Lily Monteverde is taken from Brazilian court transcripts, 1970–1973.

They finally found a lawyer
: João Augusto Miranda Jordão to Rosy Fanto, July 16, 1973.

In the summer of 1970
,
Lily rented a yacht
: Court papers, 1971 F. No 2064, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division.

“They really knew how to enjoy themselves”
: Marcelo Steinfeld, interview by author, October 17, 2007.

“The Safras put a lot of pressure on Edmond not to marry Lily
:” ibid.

FIVE: TWO WEDDINGS

“Much to my surprise”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., dated March 19, 1972.

“
Mrs. Cohen had preferred to let us be alone”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

“
Much to my stupefaction”
: ibid.

“
Lily's latest gigolo”
: Marcelo Steinfeld, interview by author, October 17, 2007.

“She was only using the guy”
: Marcelo Steinfeld, ibid.

the “black money” as she called it
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.

photos of “poor darling Freddy”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, February 5, 2008. These photographs of Alfredo were also mentioned by Maria Luisa Goldschmid, Alfredo's former secretary, who visited Lily shortly after she arrived in London, and recalled seeing them in Lily's living room.

When he died in 1907
: Obituary of Judah Bendahan, London's
Jewish Chronicle
, December 6, 1907.

Life with Lily seemed blissful in those early days
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, December 30, 1971.

refers to herself as Madame Claude
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, undated note.

“My adorable husband”
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 8, 1972.

to have children with her (“lots of them!”)
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 4, 1972.

“my love
,
my darling
,
my beloved”
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 8, 1972.

Still
,
there were strains
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

“Mrs. Monteverde was of course incensed”
: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.

the man she called her “Red Indian”
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, undated note.

“beautiful Alain Delon's [sic] hat”
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, undated note.

“
She had traveled with these!”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.

“As a very last precaution I did insist”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

“very concerned about the disparity”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007. Bendahan also discussed the financial arrangements with Lily regarding the servants during this interview.

“held an idealistic view of marriage”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter dated March 19, 1972.

“Dear mum and dad
: Carlos Monteverde to Lily Bendahan and Samuel Bendahan, February 13 and February 27, 1972.

“How does it feel to be part of a mad family”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter dated March 19, 1972.

“We arrived in Rio”
: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.

“She was so happy on that trip”
: Elza Gruenbaum, interview by author, December 18, 2007.

Lily found an even grander stone villa
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972; property records, Vallauris, France, March 1972.

set out the terms of purchase
: Willard Zucker, intent to purchase to Mme. Gilberte Duarte Ex. Esders, March 6, 1972.

He was furious at her extravagance
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 28, 2007.

the shares being held in equal parts
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

“And this continued well into my day”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.

“We were excited to be together”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, December 9, 2007.

“
a dramatic decline”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

Werner
,
her London chauffeur
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.

“endless telephone calls”
: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.

Lily began to receive a “fusillade” of calls
: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.

“He offered me his warmest congratulations”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 26, 2007.

“she was subjected to a barrage”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., September 24, 1973.

“On the airplane to London”
: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.

went around inspecting every lampshade
: Samuel Bendahan, ibid.

“I now no longer had to press her to speak”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

she begged Bendahan to hide a painting
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 26, 2007.

“thief-director”: Lourdes Mattos, interview by author, September 13, 2006.

Bendahan heard a knock on the door
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972, and interview by author, October 26, 2007.

“I have tried to reach my wife”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

“This is in effect how our marriage broke up”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter dated September 24, 1973.

“Edmond told me that he couldn't sleep at night
”: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.

“He called Alouan and asked him”
: Albert Nasser, interview by author, December 3, 2006.

“I can only think that my wife is either very sick”
: Samuel Bendahan, letter to Mark Haymon, Esq., March 19, 1972.

In a chatty letter
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, January 5, 1972.

and suffered hallucinations
: Lily Monteverde to Samuel Bendahan, two letters dated January 8, 1972 and one letter dated January 15, 1972.

Lily later met up with Eduardo
: Samuel Bendahan, notes 1972, on photographs from his honeymoon.

“were persistent and categorical”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 26, 2007.

he was arrested by a plainclothes policeman
: Samuel Bendahan, interviews by author, October 24 and October 26, 2007.

he accused her of transferring funds illegally
: “Inglês é detido nos EUA sob acusação de extorquir brasileira,”
O Globo
, translated from the Portuguese by the author, January 31, 1975.

In the weeks of arduous divorce negotiations
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.

“Imagine how popular”
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007.

Lily and Edmond didn't formally extricate themselves
: “British Case Wastes Time: Judge,”
New York Post
, July 21, 1976.

SIX
: “
THE BILLIONAIRES' CLUB
”

She simply adored Claudio
: Samuel Bendahan, interview by author, October 7, 2007. Bendahan also provided information about Lily's relationship with her other children.

“For years, every ambassador”
: Ana Bentes Bloch, interview by author, March 11, 2009.

“
I told her that if she didn't want anyone to gossip”
: Guilherme Castello Branco, interview by author, December 4, 2007.

“An event like Rio has never seen”
: Perla Sigaud, society column,
O Globo
, May 7, 1983. Translated from the Portuguese by the author.

Years later
,
when they wanted to impress the Safras
: Peter Truell, “A Fallen King in Search of a Lesser Throne,”
New York Times
, May 3, 1998.

“The wedding was truly spectacular”
: Ricardo Stambowsky, interview by author, December 3, 2007.