None of the international gambling operations exploded in the same way as the ones in Cuba or Las Vegas, but that was for gambling, as for their vending machine business it was a whole new lucrative story.
Allen Rothman was Outfit associate and main front man for Gus Alex and Hyman Larner, two Outfit members deeply involved in the coin machine business, with the help of their mentor Eddie Vogel, who in turn was old time member of the Chicago syndicate.
These fellas controlled the so-called "Combine" which in fact was a special squad within the Outfit, mainly for their international operations. The boss of the Combine was Sam Giancana and included dozens of members, both Italian and non-Italian.
In 1962, Rothman became the President of The Vending Corporation of America in Chicago, and as a matter of fact, two Outfit-related companies, the J&S Amusement Company and the Oasis Vending Company, merged into the Vending Corporation of America.
Rothman also fronted the Vencoa Music Company, while many Outfit members had shares in companies such as the Skill Amusement, Apollo Vending, Coney Island Amusement, Flip Amusement, B&T Vending and the Town and Country Vending.
The Altiere brothers owned the A & W Electric and controlled a vast coin machine operation in Summit, Illinois and were considered as part of Vogel's/Larner's Cicero crew. Also Earl Kies and Julius Zimberoff were the general managers at the Apex Amusement Company and Ajax Phonograph, which were controlled by Vogel.
With Rothmans help, the Outfit financed many manufacturing plants and offices in Chicago and all around the Midwest, including Kansas City and Milwaukee and also arpund the world such as Panama, Spain, England, Japan and Australia.
The firms located in the US were also destined for distribution of vending machines around both Central and South America, and so in 1967, Rothman and the Outfit set their sights on Brazil, mainly because at the time the country was going through some more positive changes and so many American companies began investing.
The problem was the lack of coinage in Brazil as the country mostly relied on paper currency at the time, and the vending machines “feed” on coins right?! So Rothman acquired information regarding all of the states around Brazil and what types for coins they used at the time.
Reports show that Rothman reached out to representatives of Pepsi and Coca Cola companies regarding the same situation, and also to owners of various vending firms such as from the St. Louis area. Many crime families also invested in this operation, including Cleveland, Detriot, Kansas City, St Louis, Milwaukee and even some of the east coast families from New York.
I also strongly believe that the CIA was also interested in this operation, mainly regarding their influence in South America and on top of that, during the 60s they had close connections to guys like Giancana and Larner.
Rothman was quite aware about the dangers of this type of business, meaning he already had information that England was having problems with counterfeit coins at the time, and so he didnt want to be involved in the same problem.
Story goes that Rothman made a contact with some local attorney in Sao Paolo Brazil, a city which Rothman referred to as "the Chicago of Brazil". The Brazilian attorney had connections to the current President at the time, and according to one report, at the beginning most of Chicago's requests were represented by that same local attorney, but later other reports show that some travels were made by many Outfit figures such as Giancana, Alex, Larner, Les Kruse and obviously Rothman.
That same year, a meeting occurred in Sao Paolo regarding the introduction of that country into all types of vending, slot and music machines since the country was a huge market and the local regime obviously greased their palms quite good. Reports show that besides the President of Brazil, also present at the meeting were the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the National Police Force.
It is not known which representatives for the US Mob were present at the meeting but if you ask me, I would choose between Rothman and that local attorney, or maybe even Larner who was known for having personal connections to several state leaders.
So they found a solution and asked for permission from Brazil’s top administration to mint nine million coins in three different denominations to operate the new devices, and they managed to mint the coins in denominations of 1, 2, and 5, worth approximately 7 cents, 16 cents and 35 cents, all from stainless steel.
After that, the Chicago group acquired a building in Sao Paolo for storage purposes and also formed two Brazilian vending corporations and opened up jobs for many locals. The first corporation was known as the Touristal and the second one as The Valley of Brazil and so these two Chicago Outfit-connected corporations held a protective shield on the market because they were in the same basket with the current regime.
Larner's and Rothman's close associate Eddie Ginsburg became the main guy between Chicago and Brazil, and according to the FBI, the 10-year deal between all of the US corporations and Brazil’s top administration was about to profit between 100 and 150 million dollars, which I personally believe that the number is a little bit exaggerated.
Some newspaper reports say that the Brazilian government at the time, helped the Chicago Mob in receiving concessions for slot machines in casinos located in other various places such as Argentina and again, they were known for making shipments of $500,000 in few months, which sounds more real.
Heres some files regarding the operation...
A newspaper article regarding the situation

Regarding Rothman and the coin problem in Brazil, and also the Pepsi connection



The Coca Cola connection

About the meeting between Brazils top admin and the Combine



Ginsburg and Rothman

Regarding the alleged profits

Some additional info regarding the Combine and Larner
