Extortion and Fake Labor Unions worked hand in hand in a scheme concocted by Solomon "Sol" Massarsky, two private detectives and a well known lawyer. The men banded together in a attempt to defraud Wheelan Studios of money in 1943. Picketing the Manhattan offices of the business the extortionists had succeeded in coercing a payment of $1,000 before they were arrested by police detectives.