Marvin Elkind (13 March 1934-21 January 2024), better known as "The Weasel", was a Canadian gangster, boxer and police informer.

Elkind was born in Toronto, the son of poor Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. ^[1] His mother Beatrice Feldstein was a Jewish immigrant from Romania while his father, Aaron Elkind was a Jewish immigrant from Russia. ^[2] Elkind said of his family: "My father was a bad guy. He hung around bad guys and was always getting into some trouble". ^[3] Aaron Elkind abandoned his family in 1937 after a failed bank robbery attempt, and his mother remarried to her brother-in-law, Morris Elkind. ^[4] Aaron Elkind returned to the Soviet Union where he was executed in 1946. ^[5] Morris Elkind hated his stepson, who had a marked resemblance to his father, and Marvin Elkind recalled his stepfather as an emotionally cruel man who never extended him any love. ^[4] Morris Elkind was a devout Orthodox Jew who was ashamed of his disreputable older brother and whenever Marvin was in trouble was heard to say in Yiddish "I expected it. He's Aaron's son. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree". ^[6] Morris Elkind founded a successful clothing store, Elk's. ^[7] As a child, Marvin Elkind suffered from dyslexia and ADHD, which caused him to placed "in care" in foster homes in the Toronto area from the age of 9 onward. ^[1] Morris Elkind was convinced that his stepson was a "bad seed" and on 19 March 1943 Elkind left home, never to return, as he was placed "in care" of the Children's Aid Society. ^[8] Elkind came to associate with the criminal elements that he met while "in care" and served as a petty crook for organized crime figures in Toronto and elsewhere. ^[1] The home that Elkind was sent to was the house of a bootlegger, a Mrs. Pasquale who ran her bootlegging operations with the mother of future gangster Paul Volpe . ^[9] At the time, bars and liquor stores in Ontario were required to close early, making bootlegging profitable despite the fact it had been legal to sell alcohol in Ontario since 1927. ^[9] Elkind recalled that the best day for bootlegging was Sunday when it was illegal to sell alcohol. ^[9] All five of Mrs. Pasquale's teenage sons were criminals. ^[9] Johnny Papalia was a frequent visitor to the Pasquale household, and he and Roy Pasquale (one of the five Pasquale brothers) were committing bank robberies together. ^[10]

Starting in 1952, Elkind worked as a chauffer for the notoriously corrupt union boss Jimmy Hoffa for four years. ^[11] Elkind was assigned by the gangster Anthony Salerno to work as Hoffa's chauffer under the grounds that as a Canadian he would not drafted as Hoffa's previous chauffer had been. ^[12] Elkind stated in 2008: "Mr. Hoffa was a tremendously intimidating man. This man had no fear at all, of nothing, showed very little emotion, had completely no sense of humour, and was dedicated to the people that belonged to his union. When you drive these people you learn a lot and I’ll tell you why. They don’t know you’re there. You become a piece of the car, just like an extra gear shift or a brake, and they talk." ^[12] Elkind also worked as a boxer, which caused him to suffer brain damage later in life. ^[11]

Upon his return to Canada in 1956, Elkind went to Montreal where he served as the chauffer and bodyguard to the gangster Vic Cotroni. ^[13] Elkind described Cotroni as extremely well connected as he drove him to meet numerous politicians, businessmen, union leaders, and policemen. ^[13] Elkind also worked as a chauffer and bodyguard to William Obront who he sold tainted meat for Cotroni. ^[14] Elkind stated that both Cotroni and Obront had absolutely no concern that people were getting sick and sometimes dying from the tainted meat that Obront sold. ^[14] He later returned to Toronto where he joined the Papalia family. ^[15] Elkind started working as a bouncer in the Arabian Village bar on College Street, which served as an illegal gambling house for Papalia. ^[15] The Arabian Village bar served as a place to entrap members of Ontario's elite. The most important persons entrapped were Smirle Lawson, the chief corner of Ontario and the MPP Lionel Conacher, both of whom were friends of Justice Walter T. Robb, the chairman of the Ontario Liquor Licensing Board. ^[16] Elkind recalled: "In those days, getting a liquor license was like printing money. Very few places had them. They were difficult to get and you had to get to Judge Robb. You just couldn't go to Judge Robb yourself and pay him off. You had to go through somebody.. Smirle Lawson was one of his contacts. Charlie Conacher was one of his contracts. So if you wanted a liquor license in a bar or something, you would get to Judge Robb through these certain guys". ^[17]

Elkind also worked as a chauffer for the boxer Mohammad Ali when he boxed in Toronto. ^[18] Elkind first met Ali in 1965 when he went to New York with George Chuvalo to watch him fight Floyd Patterson. ^[19] Elkind was a long-standing friend of the Canadian boxing champion Chuvalo. ^[20] On 2 February 1965 in a boxing match at Madison Square Gardens, Ali beat Chauvalo by decisio of the judges. ^[21] During his trip to New York, Elkind used his Teamsters connections acquired from working for Hoffa to get Ali a room in a prestigious hotel, and as thanks Ali promised that Elkind would work as his chauffer whenever he visited Toronto. ^[20] During a rematch between Chuvalo and Ali in Toronto at the Maple Leaf Gardens in 1966, Ali stayed at the Lord Simcoe Hotel and Elkind served as his chauffer. ^[21] Elkind said of Ali in 2011: "He's a great human being, great fighter, great person. I really like him". ^[22] As Ali became one of the most famous and controversial man in the world in the 1960s, Elkind came to enjoy a certain power in Canada as the only Canadian capable of arranging for Ali to speak at social events. ^[22]

Besides for being a gangster, Elkind was involved with the Toronto chapter of the Jewish Defense League, and in this way he served as the chauffer for the former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir when she visited Toronto on 17 December 1974. ^[23] The visit of Meir to Toronto attracted protests from pro-Palestinian elements, and Elkind discovered that driving Meir around Toronto was difficult. ^[24]

Feeling that he was being disrespected by the crime bosses he served as he never received a promotion, in 1983 Elkind went to work as an informer for the Ontario Provincial Police. ^[1] Elkind's hander for the next 10 years was Al Robinson. ^[1] As Agent 0030, Elkind became the most successful informer in Canadian history. ^[1] Elkind was highly unusual in that he worked as an informer for 10 years without being exposed. ^[1] The journalist Adrien Humphreys wrote: "Marvin helped cops corral cartel members in Mexico, Libyan terrorists, drug traffickers in New York, mobsters in Detroit, coup plotters in Ghana, stock swindlers in Amsterdam, corrupt politicians, outlaw bikers, killers, sexual predators and a full inventory of criminals in cities across Canada." ^[1] One officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Andy Rayne, who worked with Elkind on several cases in the 1980s and early 1990s said of him: "Marvin wasn't a hardened criminal. He was just associatd with hardened criminals. He wasn't one of the bad guys. We could trust him. He wasn't like other informants we worked with. We trusted him and he was part of the team. The golden rule, they always tell us, is don't befriend an informant. Well, I'm sorry, we kind of all became friends with Marvin. Most of us, anyway". ^[25]

In 1983-1984, Elkind went undercover with the Hamiltion Mafia boss, Johnny Papalia to expose his mortgage scams. ^[11] In 2011, Elkind told Humphreys about Papalia: "I hated that son of a bitch. He was evil to an extreme." ^[11] At one point, Elkind thought he was going to be exposed as Papalia reached for what appeared to be his belt, which he had hidden the wire, but instead was reaching for a piece of paper. ^[26] Elkind never recorded Papalia as saying anything that could be used to indict for a scam to defraud investors of millions as Papalia planned to sell buildings in Hamilton that he did not own, but he did collect evidence to put a stop to Papalia's scheme. ^[26]

In 1984-1986, Elkind stopped the schemes of a Libyan terrorist Muftah El-Abbar living in Toronto to commit terrorist attacks in Canada and the United States. ^[26] In 1984, Robinson told Elkind that there was a Libyan intelligence agent, Muftah El-Abbar, living in a Toronto penthouse whom terrorist activities he him to expose. ^[27] On 9 August 1984, Elkind met El-Abbar by posing as a businessman who wanted a loan to sell drywall to the construction industry. ^[28] Elkind served to introduce an undercover US Treasury department to El-Abbar whom he stated was his American business partner. ^[29] The OPP file on the case read: "This individual [El-Abbar] was subsequently arrested by U.S. authorities for obtaining an U.S. passport by using counterfeit birth documents". ^[30] In 2011, Elkind said of the El-Abbar case: "That’s the one thing I am most proud of". ^[26]

Elkind served as one of the emotional supports for Chuvalo after his heroin-addicted son Jesse committed suicide in 1985. ^[31] Two of Chuvalo's other sons were also heroin addicts and both died of heroin overdoses with George Jr. being dead in a shady Toronto hotel in 1993 and Steven Chuvalo dying of a heroin overdose in 1996. ^[31] Chuvalo set himself as an anti-drug crusader who spoke to high school students about the problems of substance abuse. ^[31] As Chuvalo is a controversial man in Canada, Elkind had the task of persuading high school principles to allow Chuvalo to speak to students. ^[31]

On 14 September 1987, Elkind met a Toronto businessman Nicholas Andreko at the Wheat Sheaf Tavern who told him he was going to finance a coup to topple Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, the president of Ghana, and was looking to meet some arms dealers. ^[32] Elkind arranged for Andreko to meet Robinson who donned his usual alter-ego of "Colonel Gibson". ^[33] Another OPP officer, Constable John Celentino, was brought in to portray another arms dealer. ^[33] On 5 November 1987 at a posh hotel in Toronto, Elkind introduced Andreko to "Colonel Gibson" and Celention who posed as a shady arms dealers who were willing to sell him a stockpile of AK-47 assault rifles plus ammunition. ^[34] As the guns were going to be smuggled into Côte d'Ivoire via the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was brought into the case. ^[35] On 9 January 1988 in a hotel in Detroit, Elkind introduced Andreko and Sam O'Dame of the Ghana Democratic Movement to Robinson and Celentino. ^[36] Andreko and O'Dame talked quite openly about their plans to assassinate Rawlings as part of their plans for a coup. ^[37] On 28 February 1988, Elkind met another conspirator, Dr. Edward Mahama, who represented the leader of the plot, a former finance minister in Rawlings's government who was living in exile after a failed coup attempt in 1981. ^[38] In May 1988, Elkind met with the plotters, where it was revealed that Andreko was expecting control of Ghana's rich gold mines as his reward for his part in financing the coup. ^[39] Andreko revealed himself to be a member of a consortium of wealthy businessmen who wanted control of the economy of Ghana as it was noted that Ghana was was a leading gold producer, the world's second largest producer of cacao, and was rich in oil, timber and diamonds. ^[40] As Ghana was a fellow member of the Commonwealth, the coup plot, which was based partly in Toronto, was especially concerning to Joe Clark, the External Affairs Minister, who was briefed by Robinson personally on the case. ^[41] The government of Canada informed the government of Ghana about the plot in September 1988, which put an end to the planned coup. ^[42]

On 3 May 1988 in a road rage incident, Elkind attacked a man whom had crashed his car into his. ^[43] Elkind pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, but the Justice John Gilbert stated that as a former boxer Elkind would have to do prison time. ^[44] Elkind was sentenced to 90 days in prison at the Mimico institution. ^[44] While at Mimico, Elkind learned from another prisoner, Joseph Pilgrim, that he sold the gun that had been used to kill Constable Douglas Tribbing of the York Regional Police who had been killed during a robbery of a computer store in Markham in 1984. ^[45] On the basis of the information learned from Pilgrim, Elkind told Robinson that the killer of Tribbling was Ronald York, who was convicted of first degree murder in 1993. ^[46]

In February 1989, Elkind served as a loan shark to a friend of his nephew known as "Philip" due to a court order, providing him with a loan with 240% interest. ^[47] In turn, Elkind got the money for the loan from the Commisso 'ndrina. ^[47] Elkind went to the Casa Commisso Banquet Hall on Lawrence Avenue to meet Rocco Remo Commisso, one of the three Commisso brothers, who gave him an envelope with $10, 000 in case in it in exchange for a cut of the profits from the loan sharking. ^[47] As "Philip" could not manage the 240% interest, he ceased paying the loan, leading to the Commisso brothers to warn Elkind that his life depended upon ensuring that "Philip" kept repaying the loan. ^[48] In the meantime, concern was expressed about Elkind's mental stability by Robinson who arranged for him to see a psychiatrist. ^[49] As Elkind started to speak about his life as a criminal and informer, the psychiatrist became convinced that Elkind was mentally ill and ordered him out of his office, saying he was delusional. ^[50] In the summer of 1989, Elkind's daughter brought home her boyfriend whom she introduced to her parents. ^[51] Elkind recognized the young man as a local thug, and told his daughter to break up with him, saying that he knew this young man very well and he was worthless as a human being. ^[51] His daughter was furious about her father calling her boyfriend a criminal, but she realized he was telling the truth when she saw her boyfriend threw Molotov cocktails at a house. ^[51] As for his daughter, Elkind approved of her boyfriend, but grew annoyed when he refused to propose marriage as he preferred his common-law relationship. ^[52] Chuvalo stepped in to assist Elkind at a boxing match by putting the young man into a headlock and saying "We are going to the synagogue, either for a funeral or a wedding. Your choice!" ^[52] Chuvalo's tactics had the desired effect and the young couple went to the synagogue to get married. ^[52] To pay for the wedding, Elkind raised $20, 000 by assisting a corrupt Montreal financer, Irving Kott, who had once served as the stockbroker to Vic Cotroni, win control of a waste disposal company in Toronto by outbidding a corrupt union boss, Tommy Corrigan. ^[52] Elkind provided the "insider's information" which allowed Kott to outbid Corrigan, and made the $20, 000, which he used to pay for a lavish traditional Jewish wedding along with a reception at Sutton Place Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in Toronto. ^[53]

On 26 October 1989, Elkind threatened to kill "Philip" at a Toronto restaurant, leading for him to be promptly arrested at the restaurant as "Philip" had turned Crown's evidence and was wearing a wire. ^[54] As an informer Elkind was supposed to keep Robinson briefed on all his criminal activities, and Robinson was furious with Elkind for not telling him that he was engaged in loan-sharking on behalf of the Commisso brothers. ^[54] Elkind had expected Robinson to protect him and was surprised when Robinson told him: "You were involved in a crime without telling me. You didn't tell me about this deal. You never said you were meeting the Commissos". ^[55] After his release on bail, Elkind went to the Casa Comisso Banuet Hall to tell the Commisso brothers that it would not be possible for him to collect on the loan. ^[56] Elkind recalled: "They were very good about it, they understood. I told them I would pay it all back to them and Remo Commisso said I just needed to pay the principle, the ten grand, and to forget about the juice, the interest. They didn't come down hard on me at all". ^[56] Elkind's arrest for making death threats and loan sharking was reported in the Toronto newspapers, which served to protect him against charges of being an informer for several years afterward. ^[56] Elkind decided that the friend of his nephew should provide the $10, 000 to repay the Commisso brothers, whom he found by posing as a rabbi who wanted to hold a dinner in honor of successful young Jewish men and called his mother, who provided him with his address and phone number. ^[56] Elkind then called up the young man to tell him that he was going to provide $10, 000 to repay the Commisso brothers, saying "You give me the money or I'll have the bikers there to take care of you. Don't fuck with me!" ^[57] The young man provided Elkind with $10, 000 the next day, which Elkind then handed over to the Commisso brothers. ^[57] As for the charges, Elkind ended up pleading guilty to extortion in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. ^[57]

In 1990, Elkind went undercover in Detroit along with Rayne posing as gangsters wishing to buy black market arms to sell in Toronto. ^[58] After visiting a disco looking for gun-runners willing to sell them handguns, the disco was bombed. ^[59] The next day, Elkind and Rayne received a phone call from FBI special agent Rich Mazzari to tell them that their act had worked too well, and the Detroit police were convinced that the Canadian duo were the ones who bombed the disco. ^[59] Mazzari, who in charge of FBI operations in Detroit, often borrowed Elkind from the OPP for his operations. ^[60] While working for the FBI in 1990, Elkind visited an Italian bakery in Detroit suspected of selling heroin by posing as a drug dealer from Toronto who wanted to buy heroin. ^[60] The baker proved quite willing to sell Elkind heroin and stated that his source was three Detroit policemen along with a real estate agent across the border in Windsor. ^[60] The information provided by Elkind led to the arrests of the three corrupt policemen. ^[60]

Starting with the Gulf War of 1991, Elkind worked as a security guard at his synagogue in Toronto as the Gulf War caused an upsurge of anti-Semitism in Canada, and the former boxer Elkind volunteered to serve as a security guard during the Saturday prayers. ^[61] After being exposed as an informer in 1993, Elkind ceased his undercover work. ^[1] Robinson warned both Carmen Barillaro and the Commisso brothers not to kill Elkind. ^[1] The gangster Eddie Melo was so enraged when he learned Elkind was an informer that he tried to beat him up in front of the St. Lawrence Market and Elkind was only saved when Mitchell Chuvalo, the son of the boxer George Chuvalo, came to his aid. ^[62]

In 1998, a wealthy businessman, Jack Tully, who prayed at the synagogue where Elkind served as a security guard at, approached him with an offer to hire him to kill his son-in-law. ^[63] Tully was angry that his son-in-law, Martin Fisher, was not permitting him to see his daughter or his two grandchildren, and told Elkind that he would pay him a substantial sum of money if he could get Fisher drunk and to drive home, believing he would be killed in an accident. ^[63] Elkind refused the offer under the grounds that Fisher might kill others while driving drunk. ^[63] Tully then told Elkind that Fisher was severely allaric to peanut butter, and he would pay him a thousand dollars to kill Fisher by getting him to drink alcohol laced with peanut oil or eat food laced with peanut butter. ^[64] Elkind contacted the York Regional Police about the murder plot and while wearing a wire on 2 September 1998 recorded Tully talking about the plan to kill Fisher via peanut butter and provided him with the murder weapons, namely a bottle of peanut oil and a jar of peanut butter, which led to Tully's arrest. ^[64] In January 2001, Tully went on trial in Toronto and Elkind served as the star witness for the Crown. ^[65] The bizarre nature of the murder plot made the trial into a media sensation in Toronto. ^[65] As the trial progressed and it became apparent that the Crown had an overwhelming case against him, Tully made a plea bargain with the Crown where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in exchange for a lighter prison sentence. ^[66] The murder plot served as the basis for the 2004 comedy film Zeyda and the Hitman where Elkind was played by Danny Aiello.

In 2011, Elkind said of his criminal career: "The Mob life is living with a lot of bad guys, and you’re not sure sometimes who are your friends and who aren’t...If there was a way I could turn the clock back 68 years...I would do it completely different. Am I satisfied with the way I lived my life? One hundred per cent no'. ^[11] Of his work as an informer, Elkind said: "“I’ll tell you what makes a good informant, and I am giving it to you straight, kid. You have to be a guy that isn’t high level in any one mob, and works in several; a guy that is dissatisfied, feels he never rose as high as he should have and doesn’t have strong loyalties and is embittered. And you have to have steel balls and no brains, and I got them both". ^[26] The journalist James Dubro said of Elkind: "He was a charismatic speaker and interview subject with a quintessential mobster voice. I’m amazed he was never killed. He did betray many gangsters and even testified in court against them". ^[11] In his last years, Elkind frequently appeared in television documentaries about organized crime where he became famed as a raconteur. ^[11] Elkind died of natural causes in Mississauga in 2024. ^[18]

• Humphreys, Adrian (2011). The Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob. Toronto: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN  0470964510.

• Smooth Operator: Marvin Elkind, The Full Interview