In 1956, a private corporation called the SPG, which is an anagram for the Solomon Pinter Group, controlled a group of companies made up of shipping, warehousing, men's wear stores, drugstores, hotels, a linen company, and an investment bank. Solomon Pinter had disappeared under mysterious circumstances while being sought for questioning by the FBI. Unknown to the FBI, the New York District Attorney's Office, and The New York Police Department, the SPG's founder had been murdered.The SPG then came under the protective wing of a New York Mafia Family. If the SPG were ever investigated it would be found that it had been sold to a holding company in Nassau and there because of the secrecy of the banking community the trail would end. In fact all of the company's deposits and lines of credit were with the SPG Bank. It was the intention of the Family to operate the SPG as a legitimate corporation, expand its influence, and through their fearsome power defend it against any competition by whatever means necessary. Their first initiative was to build the hotel chain called Landmark, which had operated in New York State, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. For the past eight years the chain had consisted of eighty hotels. On Monday, September 10, 1956 a decision was made to take Landmark international.