to a bank or broker and discounted for cash. As De Angelis stock of warehouse receipts increased, he began to replace the soybean oil in his tanks with water. Some tanks had special compartments, while others were hooked-up to a maze of pipes to shuttle oil from one tank to the next to fool inspectors. What puzzled authorities about Amex's Field Warehousing operation was that De Angelis' soybean oil stock exceeded the stock available in the entire United States, according to the Department of Agriculture. While the warehouse operation was small, Amex was lenient with De Angelis, as he was one of their main customers. With Amex staking its reputation behind all the oil and with De Angelis offering great deals, mainstream companies such as Bunge Limited, Staley, and Procter and Gamble were soon participating. Bank of America joined in to provided collateralized loans. Scheme exposed Inspectors were eventually tipped off by bribery attempts and delivery mistakes. They inspected Allied's tanks again and this time they found the water. A massive soybean oil futures crash ensued and wiped out the value of the loan collateral in minutes. On November 19, 1963, De Angelis' company filed for bankruptcy and investors found hundreds of millions of dollars in unaccounted funds. The financial integrity of the dealers behind De Angelis' futures trades was now in question. Traders scurried to recover their funds after the NYSE, worried about a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, suspended Williston and Beane and Ira Haupt and Co.'''s trading privileges. The entire debacle played-out with assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 as a background. Hours before Kennedy was shot, NY Stock Exchange president G. Keith Funston attempted to avert a market crash as Ira Haupt's 20,700 customers, fearing financial ruin, scrambled to sell their oil holdings before they became worthless. Because of all the trades the brokerage firm did on De Angelis' behalf, various banks were left holding the bag with over $37 million in unrecoverable loans. As the Kennedy assassination threw the market into a panic, 2.6 million shares were sold and the Dow dropped 24 points (about 5%) in 27 minutes. The exchange was forced to close 83 minutes early. U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey David M. Satz Jr.,Keller, Karen "Former U.S. Attorney David M. Satz Jr. dead at 83; pioneered casino gaming laws", December 26, 2009. Retrieved