Paul Emil Erdman was a Canadian-born
American economist and banker who became known for writing novels based on monetary trends and
international finance.
Charles E. Salik hired Erdman to help his tax-protected, Bermuda-based Electronics International Capital (EIC).[6] Salik and
Richard Silberman were ousted from EIC by
Jerome Kohlberg.[6] Salik then launched Salik Bank, a Swiss bank, and hired Erdman as president,[6] in 1965.[7] In 1969,
First Interstate Bancorp bought a majority stake and renamed it the United California Bank in Basel.[7] The bank collapsed after taking large losses
speculating in the cocoa market.[8][9][10] Erdman and other board members were accused of fraud and mismanagement. Erdman spent 10 months in solitary confinement without being charged before being released on a $133,000
bail bond in 1971.[11] Erdman skipped out on the bail[11] and flew to England, later returning to the United States. Several officers of the bank were convicted and served prison terms. Erdman was convicted and given a sentence of nine years in absentia.[12]
Writing career
During his time in prison, Erdman occupied his time by writing, on an Olivetti typewriter,[13] fiction, because he lacked research resources, including the first 60 pages of his novel, The Billion Dollar Sure Thing.[11][14] It received a 1974
Edgar Award from the
Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel and was published in the UK as The Billion Dollar Killing. His second novel, The Silver Bears (1974) was turned into a 1978 movie of
nearly the same name, starring
Michael Caine. His best-selling novels are credited with the invention of the "financial thriller" genre.[15] Additionally, the information in The Swiss Account is credited with providing a basis for helping track down the assets of Jewish victims of the
Holocaust.[15]
Erdman became a founding financial columnist[16] for
MarketWatch and regularly wrote financial columns.[17][18][19]
Erdman also wrote newspaper articles on professional football.[16]
He was a leading expert in the international economics field and published non-fictional works, such as Tug of War, which set out his views on
exchange rates and the international financial system.
^"Paul E. Erdman"(PDF). SRI Alumni Association Newsletter. August 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2023. In 1954, Paul Erdman earned a BA from Concordia Seminary.
^Erdman, Paul (20 June 1982).
"DIAMONDS ARE NOT FOREVER". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2023. THE RISE AND FALL OF DIAMONDS The Shattering of a Brilliant Illusion. By Edward Jay Epstein.
^Erdman, Paul (7 July 1985).
"ELDONOMICS CONQUERS ALL". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2023. HARD MONEY By Michael M. Thomas.