Walter L. Shaw

As a result, he quit and eventually ended up supplying the Mafia with black boxes capable of making free and untraceable telephone calls.

[4][dubious – discuss] When his bosses repeatedly tried to get him to sign over the rights to his inventions and patents, he quit after 14 years on the job.

Since his former employer enjoyed a telephone monopoly in the United States, he was unsuccessful in reaping any rewards from his inventions, until he became involved with the Mafia.

He devised a black box to make free, untraceable long distance telephone calls, which was a boon for bookmaking and other criminal activities.

[4] In 2002, it was announced that Ben Kingsley would star in All or Nothin', a crime drama about Walter L. Shaw and his son,[6] though the project never materialized.