 In that era, Perri was a "big spender" and the couple lived a lifestyle that "only the wealthy could afford", according to a 2016 book.Nonetheless, Perri paid only $13.30 in income tax based on employment as a macaroni salesman and his "export/mailorder" business in 1926; Starkman, who claimed to be supporting him, paid $96.43.At about that time, some reports indicated that she had between $500,000 and one million in deposits at various banks.