A COOL SWINDLER.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1255, 6 April 1883, Page 2

A COOL SWINDLER.

♦ ' An audacious swindle is thus described by the. -World : — " The yoang gentleman" who assurnecl the role of a Subaltern at the Guards': Club, and, on the strength of his- acting, obtained two meals and cash for twd cheques of £10 eachj is outdone by one who lately made his debut at the Bank of England, and succeeded in pocketing the proceeds of several hundred pounds' worth' of consols, .of which not one sixpence belonged to him. The modus operandi was ingenious. Calling upon • a medical practitioner in' the north of London, he introduced himsfclf as- Mr . A. • J3.}< ; from' India, and complained of nervous depression owing to financial worries— not from want of money, hut from a morbid fear of making bad investments. The doctor natui % ally enough suggested that his patient should bo. advised by a respectable broker, and finally— the poor young man being a stranger in England— wrote the name, of his own' broker on the back of his. card by way of. introduction. Armed /with this document, Mr A. B. appeared at the

broker's office in the city, and expressed his desire to. sell out a Certain sum in consols then standing in his name. The facility with which people can draw their dividends or effect transfers of stock at the Bank of England is puzzling to outsiders. Beyond name and amount of stock no questions are asked. The fact is, however, the claimant is always accompanied by a broker, who re held responsible for the identity of his client. In other words, the bank in these transactions deals only with the broker, In this case, A.R being duly vouched for as the holder of the stock standing in his assumed name, the consols were sold, the broker's commission was paid and the swindler walked away plus several hundred pounds- in crisp bank note? of shining sovereigns. The unfortunate broker is of course, responsible for the loss to the real holder of the; stock ; but might not some better system be devised to guard against theNwSreifs are : hob infallible, rind collusion between broker and swindler might ~~~ lead to diastrous consequence 1