Max Hoff

Max "Boo Boo" Hoff (1892 – April 27, 1941) was an ex-boxer who later became a bootlegger and gambler.

Early life Hoff was born in Little Italy, Philadelphia, in 1892 to poor Russian Jewish immigrants.

Investigation Hoff was called to the stand eight times during a grand jury investigation along with 748 other witnesses who testified. Even though he denied to being a part of the bootlegging empires in Philadelphia, Philadelphia District Attorney John Monaghan nicknamed him the "King of Philadelphia's Bootleggers". Despite the great amount of evidence stacked against him, Hoff was never indicted during the trials, because (according to a New York Times reporter) Hoff "had scrupulously avoided signing any documents connected to the undercover operations".

A few details that were revealed during the investigation: Hoff and his accomplices set up the Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company to front for several industrial alcohol companies they took over and operated. In a three-month-period, 350,000 gallons of bootlegged alcohol were transported from the Publicker plant in Little Italy by the Reading Railroad in large oil drums marked "tar" or "asphaltum," to one of the alcohol companies under the syndicate's control. After the alcohol was processed, it was placed in bottles and labeled as "hair oil" or "perfume".

Hoff's association with the Union Bank and Trust Company gave him the ability to finance the bootleg syndicate via a $10 million money-laundering plan. Normal banking procedures were bypassed, allowing him to open fourteen accounts, using the names of dead people or just fake names. The bank's president was forced to resign after it was determined that he had served as the fake owner of several blocks of Atlantic City real estate, worth millions of dollars, which were bought by Hoff and his associates.

To ensure the delivery of booze to brothels, bars and restaurants, members of the Philadelphia Police Department were paid off by bootleggers and speakeasy owners. It was estimated that the bribes paid to cops by bar owners totaled $2 million a year. Of the 87 officers questioned, many of them were fired or resigned because they couldn't explain such increases in their bank accounts and real estate and stock holdings.

The owner of Military Sales Company, Edward S. Goldberg, admitted that he sold submachine guns and bulletproof vests to Hoff. During one raid, about 450 machine guns were discovered in the I Goldberg store basement in Philadelphia. In 1929, the New York City Police Department complained that most of their confiscated guns were bought in Philadelphia.

The $500,000 worth of European liquor and champagne seized in a raid on a barge near Mount Holly, New Jersey was traced back to Hoff's gang.

Bad times After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Hoff's luck began to run out. The IRS sued Hoff for $21,000 in unpaid income taxes; in which his home in Cobbs Creek Park was sold by the sheriff for $1,200 and his car was sold for $240. Hoff was arrested in Philadelphia's 30th Street Station for allegedly attempting to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. Bad luck forced Hoff to sell his last entertainment venture, an ice cream shop called the Village Barn, near the University of Pennsylvania campus.

Death Hoff's body was found on April 27, 1941, by his second wife, Margaret. The autopsy showed the cause of death as a heart ailment.