The woman credited as 'the greatest crime promoter of all time who put crime in America on a syndicated basis' was none other than Fredericka Mandelbaum. Born in Hanover, Germany Frederike Wiesener married Wolf Israel Mandelbaum and emigrated to the Lower East Side when she was 23. They first ecked out a living as peddlers, but were unable to make enough money to feed their four children. After the Panic of 1857, things turned in their favor. Aided by an extensive a stable of pickpockets shoplifters, thieves, blackmailers, and children she was able to become the largest fence in New York (and indeed the country) which enabled her to hire engravers to doctor jewelry, hansom cabs for quick getaways and a lawyer to whom she paid an annual retainer of $5000. Always needing fresh recruits, she opened a school on Grand Street, not far from police headquarters, where children could learn from professional pickpockets and thieves. Advanced students might take courses in burglary and safe blowing; the doctoral level offered training in confidence schemes and blackmail. The institution thrived until it enrolled a prominent police official’s son. Rather than teach him the ropes, she shut the school down.
Marm was the 'honest thief' who was loyal to her clients and would provide them with bail and other services when needed, a trait pointed out in both the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and the New York Times in her obituary. Six feet tall, tipping the scale at 250 lbs, and always wearing a fascinator, she made quite an impression. By 1884, New York's District Attorney had had enough and hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to infiltrate her operation. She and her son were arrested; bail was set at $10,000 (it was usually $500) which was paid. She never showed up for her trial, supposedly escaping to Canada where she lived out the rest of her life as there was no extradition treaty.
She had the eyes of a sparrow, the neck of a bear and enough business acumen to build an empire as the “Queen of Fences”“I am Ma because I give them what a mother cannot sometimes give—money and horses and diamonds.” — Fredericka “Marm” Mandelbaum
