During my life two things have occurred that suggest the Mafia is the avante-garde for our banking - financial services industries. In 1963 a New York mobster was convicted for loan-sharking. He charged 13% interest on his loans. During the early 1970s, in Arizona, the mob was involved in packaging questionable real estate mortgages into securities that were sold to investors around the world. This operation continued for five years then collapsed. The mobsters were accused of land fraud. Investors lost seventy million dollars. There were federal investigations and murders. Today banks charge 22% interest on credit cards and the securitization of questionable real estate by an army of businessmen and politicians has cost us trillions.