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"He was not a "con-man"."

Well, if Gatsby wasn't a kingpin in a counterfeit bond scam , what was he doing working with Wolfsheim, who "made him" and who supplied him with suspicious household staff after Gatsby's affair began with Daisy?

At his party, what were the suspicious [P. 42] "number of young Englishmen...all well dressed, all looking a little hungry and talking in low, earnest voices to solid and prosperous Americans" to sell something--"bonds or insurance or automobiles?"

Why was Gatsby always ducking out for telephone calls and overheard to say something about requiring "a small town."

Why did Gatsby twice try to recruit Nick, a bond salesman, in his little side business that could "make a nice bit of money. It happens to be a rather confidential sort of thing," then lie to impress Nick about taking the fall for Daisy, whom he and only he says drove the death car? (Remember, it was NICK WHO SAID DAISY WAS DRIVING, GATSBY ONLY AGREED. P. 143: " [Gatsby] "Well, I tried to swing the wheel---" He broke off, and suddenly I guessed at the truth.
"Was Daisy driving?"
"Yes," he said after a moment, "but of course I'll say I was."
It's Nick who supplied Gatsby with the vision of Gatsby as a hero, the hero Nick's romantic gullible mind needed, the same romantic hero a vast number of readers seem to need. This is what makes people so vulnerable to con artists, who sense this need and depend upon it for their opulent lifestyle.

But the most damning evidence appears on page 166 after Gatsby is dead and Nick takes a call intended for Gatsby: ...the [long distance] connection came through as a man's voice, very thin and far away.
"This is Slagle speaking..."
"Yes?" The name was unfamiliar.
"Hell of a note, isn't it? Get my wire?"
"There haven't been any wires."
"Young Parke's in trouble," he said rapidly. "They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter. They got a circular from New York giving 'em the numbers just five minutes before. What d'you know about that, hey? You never can tell in these hick towns---"
"Hello?!" I [Nick] interrupted breathlessly. "Look here--this isn't Mr. Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby's dead."

In the above conversation it is revealed that Gatsby was involved in the sale of counterfeit bonds in a small town such as the one referred to earlier.

Everything we know about Gatsby comes from Nick's imaginative, romantic mind. Gatsby is a con artist intent on selling counterfeit bonds to increase his fortune. For all we know, he's manufactured a story about his love for Daisy and wants to get to her through Nick so that he can sell Tom a nice big batch of counterfeit bonds.