Bagman
{{short description|Person designated to collect money or run errands}}
{{for-multi|the bogeyman figure|Sack man|other uses}}
{{dicdef|date=January 2025}}
The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries.
One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808.{{cite web | title=Definition of BAGMAN | website=Definition of Bagman by Merriam-Webster | date=2019-06-24 | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bagman | access-date=2019-10-31}}
In Australian usage, it can mean a tramp or homeless man.{{cite web | title=Definition of bagman | website=www.dictionary.com | date=2015-06-10 | url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bagman | access-date=2019-10-31}}{{cite web | title=bagman (noun) definition and synonyms | website=Macmillan Dictionary | url=https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/bagman | access-date=2019-10-31}}
However, many other definitions center around money. People involved in political fundraising, soliciting donations, or otherwise involved in the financial side of a political campaign may be referred to as a bagman. This usage has led to an expansion of meaning to include those who solicit bribes for public officials.{{cite web | title=Bagman | website=Lexico Dictionaries | url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/bagman | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031110333/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/bagman | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 31, 2019 | access-date=2019-10-31}}
In organized crime, a bagman may be involved in protection rackets or the numbers game, collecting or distributing the money involved. When acting as an intermediary in such activities, a bagman may also be called a delivery boy or running man, and may receive a fraction of the money collected.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/06/04/nigel_wrights_role_as_party_bagman_deserves_scrutiny_mcquaig.html|title=Nigel Wright's role as party bagman deserves scrutiny: McQuaig|work=Toronto Star|date=4 June 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/mary-anastasia-ogrady-iran-and-argentina-the-defectors-tale-1427065218|title=Iran and Argentina: The Defectors' Tale: O'Grady|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=22 March 2015}}{{cite magazine | title=Inside the Cultish Dreamworld of Augusta National | magazine=The New Yorker | date=2019-06-24 | url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/06/24/inside-the-cultish-dreamworld-of-augusta-national | access-date=2019-10-31}}{{cite web | last1=Higgins | first1=Jack | last2=Robinson | first2=Patrick | title=Bagman definition and meaning | website=Collins English Dictionary | date=2019-10-31 | url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bagman | access-date=2019-10-31}} Journalist Jack Shafer defines "bag man" as a slang term "for criminals who perform deliveries and run errands for other criminals".{{cite web |last1=Shafer |first1=Jack |title=Shameless paper in mindless fog |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/jackshafer/2013/04/18/shameless-paper-in-mindless-fog/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420042629/http://blogs.reuters.com/jackshafer/2013/04/18/shameless-paper-in-mindless-fog/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 20, 2013|agency=Reuters Blogs |date=18 April 2013}} In criminal operations involving disbursements of cash as illegal payments for some service, a bagman delivers the money, often cash, to the recipient, such as Fred LaRue in the Watergate scandal.